or  THE 


Division 
Range 

Shelf... 
Received 


of 


INDIAN  CORN; 


ITS 


VALUE,   CULTURE,   AND    USES. 


BY 

EDWARD    ENFIELD 


H 


it  :\  ?V 


NEW  YOEK: 
D.     APPLETON     AND     COMPANY, 

443  &  445  BROADWAY. 
1866. 


ENTEBED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 
D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


|£  v- 


TO  THE  EDITORS  AND  LEADING  WRITERS  OF  THE 
AGRICULTURAL  PRESS. 

As  a  feeble  tribute  of  admiration,  Gentlemen,  for  your  valuable 
services  in  advancing  the  great  farming  interest  of  our  country,  the 
author  begs  leave  to  inscribe  to  you  this  humble  effort. 

Agriculture  is  the  acknowledged  basis  of  our  national  growth  and 
prosperity.  It  has  contributed,  more  than  any  other  cause,  to  make 
our  country  what  it  is,  and  is  destined  to  be  equally  instrumental  here- 
after in  making  it  all  that  it  promises  to  be. 

But  while  we  all  perceive  and  readily  acknowledge  the  great  national 
importance  of  this  branch  of  industry,  should  we  not  equally  recognize 
the  vast  and  beneficent  influence  exerted  by  the  class  of  writers  I  am 
addressing  ? — a  class,  numerically  small  but  influentially  potent,  who, 
by  advancing  our  agriculture,  have  contributed  more  to  develop  our 
material  wealth  and  power  than  any  other  equal  number  of  men  in  the 
country.  No  man  who  has  paid  any  attention  to  the  progress  of  Amer- 
ican husbandry  during  the  last  few  years,  and  to  the  direct  influence 
exerted  upon  it  by  the  class  of  periodicals  especially  devoted  to  it,  can 
fail  to  realize  how  much  the  country  is  indebted  to  the  conductors  and 
writers  of  such  journals. 

Wherever  these  sheets  have  penetrated  the  rural  districts,  the 
effect  has  been  immediately  obvious,  in  the  ameliorated  condition  of  the 
soil,  in  the  improved  quality  and  augmented  quantity  of  fanning  prod- 
ucts, and  in  the  general  thriftiness,  the  social  and  moral  advancement 
of  the  farming  population. 


4:  DEDICATION. 

It  is  not  the  mere  language  of  compliment,  Gentlemen,  to  say  that, 
while  you  have  been  steadily,  and  patiently,  and  zealously  engaged  from 
month  to  month,  and  from  year  to  year,  in  writing  up  our  farmers  to  a 
higher  level  of  intelligence  and  success,  you  have  at  the  same  time,  and 
in  the  same  measure,  been  writing  up  to  a  higher  level  the  prosperity 
and  affluence  of  our  common  country. 

The  clever  author  of  "  Ten  Acres  Enough,"  in  accounting  for  the 
success  of  his  farming  enterprise,  remarked,  with  pardonable  compla- 
cency, that  he  had  manured  his  soil  with  brains.  The  metaphor  will 
bear  a  wider  application.  It  may  be  said  with  equal  propriety  that  our 
agricultural  writers  have  been  for  a  series  of  years  manuring  a  continent 
with  the  same  remarkable  fertilizer. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  auspicious  signs  of  the  times,  that  the  general 
public  are  beginning  to  take  a  much  livelier  interest  than  ever  before  in 
all  that  relates  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  Horticultural  magazines 
and  farming  journals  are  finding  their  way  into  hundreds  of  families 
who,  having  no  ground  to  cultivate,  are  yet  waking  up  to  a  general 
interest  in  the  subject.  Quotations  from  the  agricultural  press  are  now 
frequently  and  almost  constantly  seen  in  the  general  newspaper ;  and 
people  are  beginning  to  discover  that  husbandry,  in  one  form  or  another, 
is  related  to  every  condition  of  life,  and  that  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
community  is  bound  up  in  the  success  and  prosperity  of  the  farmer. 

To  you,  Gentlemen,  we  are  largely  indebted  for  this  improved  and 
encouraging  condition  of  the  public  mind.  And  though  your  services 
in  this  great  cause  have  never  yet  been  adequately  appreciated,  the  day 
is  undoubtedly  near  when  a  more  generous  recognition  will  be  accorded 
to  the  influence  and  usefulness  of  your  labors.  One  thing,  at  least,  is 
certain.  If  contemporary  justice  is  not  rendered  to  the  leaders  and 
guides  and  expounders  of  American  agriculture,  another  generation  will 
gratefully  record  their  names  among  the  benefactors  of  our  country. 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  respectfully  and  gratefully  yours, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

IN  the  preparation  of  this  work,  the  Author  has  derived 
valuable  information  from  various  sources,  which  it  gives  him 
pleasure  to  acknowledge.  Where  the  language  of  another 
writer  has  heen  employed,  it  is  duly  credited  in  the  context. 
Besides  these  instances,  he  is  indebted  for  facts  and  opinions  to 
the  following  authorities : 

"  Johnston's  Agricultural  Chemistry,"  "  The  American  Farm- 
er's Encyclopaedia,"  "Burr's  Field  and  Garden  Vegetables  of 
America,"  "  Harris's  Kural  Annual,"  and  "  Tucker's  Illustrated 
Annual  Register."  Also  to  the  productions  of  Dr.  Harris  and 
Dr.  Pitch,  "  On  Injurious  Insects; "  to  the  "Transactions  of  the 
New  York  State  Agricultural  Society,"  and  to  the  American  In- 
stitute Farmer's  Club,  whose  weekly  discussions  abound  in  val- 
uable practical  information. 

Prominent  also  among  the  works  that  have  been  of  service 
to  the  writer,  are  the  Agricultural  Journals  of  our  country. 
While  they  are  gratefully  recorded  here  as  valuable  auxiliaries 
in  the  present  undertaking,  the  record  may,  perhaps,  prove  ser- 
viceable to  the  farming  community  by  attracting  their  attention 
to  these  fruitful  sources  of  knowledge  and  sure  guides  to  pros- 
perity. 

The  American  Agriculturist. New  York  City. 

"    Weekly  Tribune "  " 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 

The  Country  Gentleman Albany,  N".  Y. 

"  Working  Farmer New  York  City. 

"  New  England  Farmer Boston,  Mass. 

"  Boston  Cultivator "          " 

"  Farmer  and  Gardener Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  Rural  New  Yorker Kochester,  K  Y. 

"     Ohio  Farmer Cleveland,  Ohio. 

"  Massachusetts  Plowman Boston,  Mass. 

"  Prairie  Farmer Chicago,  HI. 

"  Farmers1  Advocate "          " 

"  Wisconsin  Farmer Madison,  Wis. 

"  Maine  Farmer Augusta,  Me. 

"  Genesee  Farmer* Rochester,  K  Y. 

"  Germantown  Telegraph Germantown,  Pa. 

Colman's  Rural  World • St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Western  Rural Detroit,  Mich. 

"  Culturist Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  Rural  American Utica,  1ST.  Y. 

"  Rural  Register Baltimore,  Md. 

"  Iowa  Homestead Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

"  Southern  Cultivator Athens,  Ga. 

"  California  Farmer San  Francisco,  Cal. 

*  Eecently  merged  in  the  American  Agriculturist. 


PKEFAOE. 


THE  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  absence  of 
any  work  specially  devoted  to  it,  is  deemed  a  sufficient 
apology  for  the  appearance  of  this  book.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  the  author  has  given  much  attention,  both 
theoretically  and  practically,  to  the  culture  and  uses  of 
Indian  corn,  and  has,  during  that  time,  accumulated  a 
considerable  amount  of  materials  relating  to  the  subject, 
and  mainly  derived  from  the  experience  of  farmers  in 
various  sections  of  the  country. 

Since  no  abler  pen  has  undertaken  to  supply  a  want 
widely  felt  and  acknowledged  in  the  agricultural  world, 
he  has  at  length  concluded  to  digest  and  arrange  his 
store  of  materials  on  hand  into  the  form  of  the  present 
volume,  which  is  now  offered  to  the  public  with  a 
lively  sense  of  its  imperfections,  but  not  without  a  pro- 
found conviction  of  the  importance  of  the  subject. 

The  aim  has  been  to  condense  within  a  small  com- 
pass all  needed  and  useful  information,  and  to  state 


8  PBEFACE. 

facts,  opinions,  and  results,  as  clearly  and  concisely  as 
possible. 

In  the  discussion  of  some  of  the  leading  topics,  the 
author  would  gladly  have  devoted  more  space,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  importance,  but  it  was  found  that  such 
a  course  would  render  the  work  more  voluminous  and 
expensive,  thereby  possibly  excluding  it  from  the  larg- 
est circle  of  readers. 

The  critical  reader  is  here  notified  that  he  will  find, 
in  the  course  of  these  pages,  some  repetition  of  the  lead- 
ing thought^  which  it  is  the  object  of  this  book  to  de- 
velop and  impress.  When  a  topic,  already  once  treated, 
has  reappeared  in  a  different  connection,  especially  if 
involving  a  principle  of  some  consequence,  the  writer 
has  not  hesitated  to  improve  the  opportunity  of  re- 
affirming such  principle,  and  again  urging  it  on  the 
attention  of  the  cultivator.  The  same  ideas  have  thus 
been,  in  several  instances,  partially  reproduced.  If 
they  shall  appear  to  the  agricultural  reader  as  impor- 
tant as  they  have  seemed  to  the  writer,  no  further 
apology  will  be  needed.  The  reader  who  looks  for  im- 
perfections will  easily  find  them;  but  faults  which, 
like  this,  have  their  origin  in  the  force  of  the  writer's 
convictions,  however  they  may  displease  the  critic, 
will  not,  it  is  thought,  offend  the  practical  farmer. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, 11 

EXTENT  AND  VALUE  OF  THE  COEN  CEOP, 22 

General  View  of  the  Crop.— Money  Value  of  the  Crop.— Estimated 
Crop  for  1870.— Consumption  of  the  Crop. 

NAME  AND  OEIGIN  OF  INDIAN  COEN, 88 

ADAPTATION  TO  VAEIETIES  OF  SOIL  AND  CLIMATE, 86 

ADAPTATION  TO  THE  WANTS  OF  MAN, 40 

CERTAINTY  OF  THE  CEOP, -43 

AVEEAGE  YIELD, 45 

PRODUCTIVENESS, 48 

LIMIT  OF  PRODUCTION, 54 

VARIETIES  OF  INDIAN  COEN, 60 

IMPROVEMENT  OF  VARIETIES, 6T 

INTRODUCTION  OF  NEW  VARIETIES, 71 

CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  CORN, 76 

DEVELOPMENT  AND  STRUCTURE, 82 

SEED  FOR  PLANTING, 90 

Selection  of  Seed.— Preparation  of  Seed. 

TIME  TO  PLANT, .'. 97 

THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  CONSTITUENTS, 102 

PRACTICAL  MODE  OF  TESTING  THE  SOIL, 107 

PREPARATION  OF  THE  SOIL, 113 

MANURES, 118 


10  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PLANTING, 126 

AFTEE-CULTUEE, 136 

HAE VESTING  AND  STOEING, 142 

ENEMIES  OF  COEN, . 14T 

PEEVENTIVES  AND  EEMEDIES, 155 

DISEASES  OF  COEN, 162 

THE  STALK  CEOP, 165 

Feeding  Value  of  the  Stalk.— Eatio  of  the  Stalk  to  the  Grain.— Cured 
Fodder.— Green  Fodder.— Cost  of  Producing  Corn  Fodder.— Esti- 
mated Stalk  Crop  of  the  United  States.— Cutting  Corn  Fodder.— Nu- 
tritive Value  of  the  Cob.— Nutritive  Value  of  Corn  and  Cob  Meal. 

COST  OF  PEODUCTION, 200 

HOW  TO  OBTAIN  A  LAEGE  YIELD, 216 

THE  LAEGEST  YIELD  ON  EECOED,  228 

USES  OF  COEN, 233 

1.  Corn  as  an  Article  of  Human  Food. — In  the  Green  State. — In  the 
Eipe  State.  2.  Corn  as  Food  for  Domestic  Animals. — For  Poultry. 
—For  Horses.— For  Cattle.— For  Swine.— For  Sheep. 

COST  OF  BEEF  MADE  FEOM  COEN, 249 

«        POEK        "             "           "      260 

MUTTON               "           "      266 

"         BUTTEE  AND  CHEESE  MADE  FEOM  COEN, 270 

HOW  TO  MAKE  FEEDING  PEOFITABLE,  275 

MISCELLANEOUS  USES  OF  COEN, 279 

For  Paper  and  Cloth.— For  Syrup  and  Sugar.— For  Distillation.— For 
Oil.— For  Green  Manure.— For  Fuel. 

THE  PEODUCT  OF  ONE  ACEE, ,.,_>  286 

COEN  CULTUEE  AT  THE  WEST, 292 

THE  MANUFACTUEING  INTEEEST  IN  ITS  EELATION  TO  AGEI- 

CULTUEE, 298 

MAEKET  PEICE  OF  COEN, 301 

CONCLUSION, 805 


INDIAN     COEN. 


INTEODUCTIOK 

IT  appears,  from  the  census  returns  of  1860,  that 
there  were  at  that  time,  3,381,583  farmers  in  the 
United  States,  which,  by  the  ordinary  ratio  of  increase, 
would  make  the  present  number  not  far  from  four 
millions ;  most  of  whom  are,  doubtless,  in  the  habit  of 
raising  an  annual  crop  of  Indian  corn.  This,  at  least, 
is  to  be  presumed,  for  the  crop  is  so  universally  culti- 
vated, and  so  essential  to  the  husbandman,  that  those 
omitting  it  must  be  extremely  few  in  number. 

Allowing  for  these  exceptions,  and  for  the  interrup- 
tions resulting  from  the  war,  it  may  be  taken  for 
granted  that  there  are,  in  round  numbers,  not  less 
than  three  and  a  half  millions  of  proprietary  farmers 
engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  this  grain ;  some  on 
fields  measuring  hundreds  of  acres,  and  some  on  limit- 
ed patches  of  a  few  square  rods ;  some  producing  fifteen 
or  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  others  one  hundred 
and  fifty  or  more ;  but  all  contributing  to  the  grand  re- 
sult, and  swelling  the  aggregate  crop  of  the  nation  to 


12  INDIAN  CORN. 

such  vast  proportions  as  the  world  has  never  before 
witnessed. 

Here,  then,  are  two  distinct  objects  brought  to  the 
notice  of  the  reader,  viz. : 

The  great  staple  crop  of  the  country,  and 

The  class  of  men  engaged  in  producing  it. 

To  the  former  of  these  topics  the  present  volume 
is  devoted.  To  the  latter,  let  us  accord  the  passing 
tribute  of  a  few  lines. 

There  are  various  reflections  that  give  weight  and 
consideration  to  the  large  and  respectable  body  of  men 
devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits.  The  very  nature  of 
their  occupation  renders  it  of  vital  importance  to  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  The  products  of  agricul- 
ture embrace  articles  of  such  indispensable  necessity, 
that  the  continued  existence  of  our  population  is  lit- 
erally suspended  upon  the  tillage  of  the  earth.  The 
farmer  feeds  the  community,  and  every  member  of  it 
is  thus  daily,  and  almost  hourly,  reminded  of  his  value 
and  importance  in  the  social  scale. 

But  without  dwelling  on  general  considerations, 
it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  a  few  prominent  facts.  It 
will  be  seen,  from  the  census  returns  above  referred 
.to,  that  in  1860,  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  the 
United  States  engaged  in  manufactures  and  kindred 
branches  was  2,017,653;  and  of  those  engaged  in 
commerce  and  connected  pursuits,  757,773  ;  while  the 
number  engaged  in  agricultural  operations,  as  stated 
above,  was  3,381,583. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  farmers  not  only  out- 
number the  merchants  and  the  manufacturers,  taken 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

separately,  but  they  surpass  the  combined  numbers 
of  those  classes  by  more  than  half  a  million.  It  also 
appears  that,  by  the  ordinary  ratio  of  increase,  the 
number  of  farmers  in  the  whole  country,  at  the  period 
of  the  next  census,  will  probably  exceed  five  millions, 
counting  the  heads  of  families  merely,  and  not  their 
dependents. 

It  is  quite  apparent,  therefore,  that  this  class  of 
our  citizens,  unconspicuous  as  they  have  been  in  the 
retirement  of  their  rural  homes,  have  yet  grown  to 
dimensions,  and  risen  to  an  importance,  well  calcu- 
lated to  arrest  attention.  But  while  their  numbers 
are  rapidly  advancing,  their  achievements  do  not  flag. 
The  annual  fruits  of  their  industry,  increasing  with 
their  population,  have  reached  a  prominence  and 
magnitude  everywhere  seen  and  felt,  and  everywhere 
acknowledged  to  be  without  a  parallel.  American 
husbandry  has  made  its  mark  in  the  world,  not  only 
by  the  intrinsic  value,  but  equally  by  the  quantities  of 
its  products.  The  unexampled  amounts  of  grain  and 
provision  which  it  has  annually  poured  into  the  chan- 
nels of  commerce,  have  justly  challenged  the  attention 
and  the  amazement  of  mankind. 

In  whatever  light  we  view  this  subject,  we  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  valuable  services  and  the 
growing  influence  of  our  yeomanry.  It  is  not  a  mere 
metaphor,  nor  even  an  exaggeration,  to-  say  that  the 
destiny  of  the  nation  is  in  their  hands.  The  national 
census  is  the*  history  of  their  achievements  and  the 
monument  of  their  greatness.  Their  position  and  in- 
fluence in  the  community  is  a  simple  matter  of  fact 


14  INDIAN  CORN. 

which  it  is  proper  to  recognize,  legitimate  to  account 
for,  and  maybe  useful  to  contemplate,  and  which  there 
can  be  no  reason  to  ignore. 

If  the  mere  statement  of  these  facts  affords  them 
any  ground  of  complacency  and  self-gratulation,  so 
does  it  also  bring  with  it  momentous  responsibilities. 
To  remind  them  of  these  is  no  idle  compliment,  but 
may  serve  a  useful  purpose.  If  they  have  done  so 
much  for  their  country  in  the  past,  what  may  they  not 
do  in  the  future  ? 

The  present  is  an  eventful  and  auspicious  epoch  in 
our  history,  holding  out  to  our  people,  and  especially 
to  our  farming  population,  great  and  glorious  oppor- 
tunities. We  stand  between  a  dreary  past  and  a 
hopeful  future.  Having  extinguished,  with  a  rapidity 
and  completeness  unexampled,  the  most  stupendous 
rebellion  on  record;  having  continued  through  the 
whole  of  that  struggle  to  exhibit  and  unfold  with 
scarcely  any  interruption  our  immense  material  re- 
sources ;  having  made  that  fiery  tribulation  the  occa- 
sion and  opportunity  for  developing  an  amazing  na- 
tional vitality,  a  physical  energy,  a  force  of  character, 
and  a  moral  power  surpassing  our  own  previous  con- 
ceptions, and  scarcely  yet  credited  by  the  rest  of  the 
world ;  having  confirmed  and  established  in  the  reluc- 
tant confidence  of  foreign  nations,  the  vigor,  efficiency, 
and  permanency  of  our  government ;  having  thrown 
open  our  vast  domain  of  fertile  acres  to  the  people  of 
all  climes,  thus  offering  a  bid  for  population  beyond 
the  competition  of  other  powers ;  having  invited,  facil- 
itated, and  secured  a  steadily  increasing  tide  of  immi- 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

gration  from  abroad,  it  would  certainly  appear  as  if 
the  era  upon  which  we  are  now  entering  holds  out  a 
prospect  beyond  any  thing  hitherto  revealed  to  man- 
kind. We  stand  on  the  threshold  of  a  future  so  fall 
of  promise,  so  radiant  with  hope,  so  teeming  with 
possibilities  and  opportunities,  that  imagination  can 
scarcely  overdraw,  nor  enthusiasm  exaggerate  the  ap- 
proaching scenes  of  prosperity,  affluence,  and  power. 

To  you,  Brother  Farmers,  such  reflections  as  these 
cannot  be  without  interest,  for  with  you  it  mainly 
rests  to  realize  for  your  country  these  well-founded 
and  rational  anticipations.  You  hold  the  keys  that 
shall  unlock  the  treasures  of  the  earth.  In  your 
hands  are  the  magic  wands  that  shall  convert  proph- 
ecy into  history,  and  organize  possibilities  into  accom- 
plished events,  transmuting  the  visions  of  the  future 
into  solid  facts,  and  crystallizing  anticipated  scenes 
into  living  realities. 

To  you,  then,  gentlemen,  may  the  writer  be  al- 
lowed to  address  a  few  plain  and  candid  remarks. 

If  the  prosperity  of  this  nation  is  founded  upon 
the  prosperity  and  success  of  its  farmers,  then  arises 
at  once  the  vital  question,  On  what  does  the  success 
of  the  farmer  depend  ?  The  obvious  answer  is,  that 
it  depends  mainly  upon  his  getting  from  his  land  the 
largest  amount  of  products,  at  the  lowest  rate  of  ex- 
pense. To  do  this  requires  not  only  industry  but  in- 
telligence ;  not  merely  the  faculty  of  working,  but  the 
faculty  of  thinking..  The  man  who,  by  combining 
thought  with  action,  contrives  to  get,  year  after  year, 
five  or  six  bushels  more  of  wheat,  and  ten  or  fifteen 


16  INDIAN   CORN. 

more  of  corn  from  an  acre  of  ground  than  his  neigh- 
bor gets,  under  like  circumstances,  will  undoubtedly, 
other  things  being  equal,  outstrip  his  neighbor  in  the 
race  of  prosperity.  If  this  is  true  in  reference  to  in- 
dividuals, it  is  equally  so  and  the  effect  is  far  more 
striking  in  reference  to  communities. 

Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  corn  crop  of  the 
United  States,  and  see  what  the  difference  would 
amount  to,  in  the  aggregate,  if  every  farmer  in  the 
country,  at  the  period  of  the  last  census,  had  raised, 
with  little  or  no  additional  expense,  five  bushels  more 
to  the  acre.  This  result  was  not  merely  possible,  but 
easy  to  accomplish,  and  would  have  made  a  net  addi- 
tion of  nearly  one  hundred  and  thirty  million  bushels 
of  corn  to  the  product  for  that  year.  This  being  the 
difference  on  one  crop  out  of  a  dozen  or  more,  we 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  total  excess  that  would 
result,  in  a  single  season,  from  even  a  small  increase 
all  around  in  the  ratio  of  production. 

Now  here,  gentlemen,  is  the  point  which  ought  to 
arrest  your  attention.  The  average  yield  per  acre, 
throughout  the  country,  is  entirely  below  what  it 
should  be.  The  product  of  Indian  corn  might  just  as 
well  be,  on  a  general  average,  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre 
as  thirty  or  thirty-five ;  and  in  putting  the  amount  at 
fifty  bushels,  the  standard  is  still  too  low. 

It  is  easy,  however,  to  perceive,  and  is  well  under- 
stood, that  the  rate  of  yield  here  complained  of  is  the 
fault  of  a  part  of  the  agricultural  community  only, 
and  not  of  the  whole ;  and  it  is  but  just  to  remark, 
that  low  as  this  average  appears,  it  is  nevertheless 


INTBODFCTION.  17 

above  that  of  former  years,  and  has  been  slowly,  and 
with  some  fluctuation,  gaining  ground  for  nearly  half 
a  century.  It  must  also  be  admitted,  and  is  entitled 
to  be  considered,  that  notwithstanding  this  low  rate 
of  production,  the  aggregate  amounts  of  our  various 
crops  have  risen  to  proportions  truly  amazing,  and 
have,  as  already  stated,  contributed  immensely  to  the 
growth  and  power  of  the  country. 

But  after  all  these  admissions,  though  in  looking 
at  the  grand  aggregates,  we  find  them,  in  comparison 
with  former  years,  steadily  advancing,  and  though  we 
find  the  broad  result  to  be  national  development  and 
prosperity  beyond  that  of  any  other  people,  still  the 
inquiry  arises,  and  forces  itself  upon  the  mind,  "What 
would  have  been,  or  rather,  what  might  not  have 
been  accomplished,  with  a  larger  average  yield? 
What  other,  and  higher,  and  more  incredible  results 
might  not  have  been  achieved,  had  the  ratio  of  pro- 
duction been  fifty  bushels  per  acre  for  corn,  with  a 
corresponding  increase  for  all  other  crops  ? 

Now,  to  every  cultivator  of  the  soil  this  question 
of  acreable  product  is  one  of  no  little  moment ;  and 
he  has  already  gone  far  toward  solving  it,  when  he 
has  committed  his  grain  to  the  ground  in  the  spring. 
It  i£  indeed  a  serious  question,  not  only  to  himself  but 
to  the  community  as  well,  whether  he  shall  gather 
twenty  bushels  from  an  acre  or  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
or  what  intermediate  number  he  shall  reach  between 
these  extremes.  One  thing  at  least  is  certain :  in  the 
present  state  of  intelligence,  with  the  existing  facili- 
ties and  recently  improved  methods  of  culture,  no 


18  INDIAN   COEN. 

man  of  ordinary  enterprise  will  be  satisfied  with  any 
such  quantity  as  the  average  yield  of  the  last  decade. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  thirty-three  bushels  per  acre 
is  too  low  an  average  for  the  whole  country,  consider- 
ing that  one  hundred  bushels  are  by  no  means  unu- 
sual, and  that  much  higher  figures  have  been  reached, 
even  all  the  way  up  to  two  hundred  bushels. 

"Whatever  has  been  done  in  repeated  instances,  by 
various  parties  and  under  differing  circumstances,  is 
surely  a  reasonable  standard  for  every  man  to  aim  at, 
and  one  which  no  true  farmer  will  permit  himself  to 
lose  sight  of.  Knowing  the  limit  of  possibility,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  know  further  what  are  the  condi- 
tions essential  to  its  attainment.  Comply  with  these, 
and  you  achieve  the  result.  Let  every  farmer  make 
up  his  mind,  at  planting,  how  many  bushels  per  acre 
are  fairly  within  his  reach.  Let  him  fix  his  mark  in 
the  spring,  with  a  firm  resolve  to  come  up  to  it.  He 
who  determines  to  achieve  whatever  has  been  proved 
reasonably  possible,  may  safely  aim  at  an  elevated 
mark ;  and  if  he  conforms  to  the  laws  of  reason,  and 
nature,  and  common  sense,  will  hit  the  centre  of  his 
target  at  every  shot. 

But  there  are,  gentlemen,  two  great  agencies  op- 
erating throughout  the  country,  the  tendency  of  which 
is  so  favorable  and  so  powerful  for  good,  that  I  cannot 
forbear  to  urge  them  on  your  attention.  I  allude  to 
the  influence  of  farmers'  clubs  and  farming  journals. 
No  man  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  can  expect 
to  keep  up  with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  without  avail- 
ing himself  of  these  useful  and  invaluable  means  of 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

improvement.  If  every  man  who  wins  Ms  livelihood 
from  the  soil,  would  appropriate  the  experience  of  his 
fellow-cultivators  by  connecting  himself  at  once  with 
a  farmers'  club,  and  subscribing  promptly  to  an  agri- 
cultural journal,  causing  it  to  be  taken  and  read  in 
his  family,  the  effect  on  the  soil  and  crops  of  the  en- 
suing season  would  be  marvellous  and  magical  all 
over  the  country. 

The  valuable  facts  and  experiments,  and  the  va- 
riety of  information  which  abound  in  these  journals, 
produce  their  legitimate  results,  in  improving,  ele- 
vating, and  enriching  the  farmer,  with  just  as  much 
certainty  as  does  the  manure  applied  to  his  crops,  or 
the  tillage  bestowed  on  the  soil.  The  conductors  and 
writers  of  this  branch  of  the  press  devote  themselves 
with  untiring  industry  to  collect  and  disseminate  the 
opinions  and  experience  of  our  wisest  practical  men, 
and  the  scientific  principles  laid  down  by  the  highest 
authorities. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  how  many  of  these  jour- 
nals are  at  present  taken  and  read  throughout  the 
country,  but  it  seems  probable  that  the  number  of  sub- 
scribers, putting  all  the  journals  together,  would  not 
much  exceed  one-third  of  a  million,  which  is  less  than 
one  man  in  ten  of  the  agricultural  proprietors,  and 
scarcely  one  in  forty  of  the  farming  population.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  this  ratio  of  readers  to  the 
whole  number  of  cultivators  is  discreditably  low.  In 
an  agricultural  community  numbering  four  million 
families,  there  ought  to  be,  at  the  least  calculation, 
one  million  subscribers  to  this  class  of  periodicals ;  nor 


20  INDIAN   CORN. 

is  it  easy  to  assign  any  reason  why  this  number  should 
not  yet  be  reached  before  the  period  of  the  next  gen- 
eral census.  We  should  then  have  three  reading 
farmers  where  we  now  have  one,  and  the  effect  upon 
agriculture  which  such  an  increase  of  intelligence 
would  everywhere  produce  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
overrate. 

It  rests  with  you,  brother  farmers,  to  introduce 
this  new  era  of  diffused  intelligence,  by  doubling  or 
tripling,  as  you  easily  may,  the  circulation  of  the  agri- 
cultural press.  Should  you  enter  thoroughly  into  the 
spirit  of  this  subject,  the  purpose  would  be  accom- 
plished. You  would  thereby  change  the  aspect  and 
condition  of  fields  and  farms  all  over  the  land,  impart- 
ing to  every  meadow  a  brighter  green,  and  to  the 
fruits  of  autumn  a  deeper  tinge  of  gold.  You  would 
communicate  ideas  to  ploughshares,  convert  the  hoe 
into  a  calculator,  and  endow  the  spade  with  thought. 

"What  effect  this  would  produce  upon  the  future 
grain  crops  of  the  country,  it  is  not  difficult  to  per- 
ceive. Even  without  counting  any  increase  from  this 
cause,  the  corn  crop  for  1870,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
estimate  on  another  page,  is  likely  to  exceed  a  thou- 
sand million  dollars  in  value.  The  grain  itself,  accord- 
ing to  that  estimate,  will  be  sufficient  to  feed  not  only 
our  own  people,  but  half  the  population  of  Europe 
in  addition,  for  more  than  twelve  months;  while 
the  money  value  of  such  annual  crops  would,  in  the 
course  of  three  years,  suffice  to  extinguish  our  national 
debt,  and  leave  a  balance  in  the  treasury. 

It  seems  to  me,  Farmers  of  America,  that  such  a 


INTEODTJOTION.  21 

record  will  be  the  best  possible  commentary  on  the 
Great  American  Rebellion,  and  the  best  possible  re- 
buke to  the  numerous  tribe  of  croakers  and  prophets 
of  evil  abroad,  who  have  so  long  and  steadily  been 
gloating  over  the  approaching  dissolution  of  our 
Union. 

That  the  citizen  soldiers  of  this  country,  after  bring- 
ing to  a  successful  close  a  civil  war  so  formidable  and 
terrific,  should  have  laid  aside  promptly,  in  the  very 
hour  of  triumph,  the  arms  which  they  had  covered 
with  glory,  and  gone  back  quietly  to  their  cherished 
homes,  and  to  the  beneficent  occupations  of  peace; 
that  a  class  of  men  notoriously  ardent  and  susceptible 
should  abandon  at  once  and  with  complacency,  the 
exciting  scenes  of  martial  life,  and  the  fields  of  all 
their  fresh  renown,  satisfied  with  a  sense  of  duty  per- 
formed and  a  country  saved ;  that  so  soon  after  turn- 
ing their  backs  upon  the  field  of  battle,  they  should 
exhibit  to  the  world  a  countless  array  of  harvest  fields 
stretching  over  a  thousand  hills  and  valleys,  and  cov- 
ering a  land  redeemed  by  their  valor  and  now  embel- 
lished by  their  toil — this  indeed  is  a  moral  spectacle 
instructive  to  the  world,  and  more  to  be  prized  than 
all  the  material  prosperity  and  affluence  which  it  in- 
dicates. 


CAi  A  }•"< ;: .,  \  \  \9 


EXTENT   A1STD    VALUE    OF    THE   COEK 
CKOP. 

GENERAL  YIEW. — The  extent  of  the  corn  crop  of 
this  country,  and  its  importance  in  an  economical  and 
commercial  view,  have  risen  to  a  scale  of  magnitude 
that  overshadows  all  other  crops.  It  appears,  from 
the  census  of  1860,  that  the  corn  crop  of  that  year  was 
over  eight  hundred  million  bushels,  while  the  product 
of  wheat,  rye,  oats,  barley,  buckwheat,  peas,  beans, 
and  potatoes,  taken  in  their  entire  aggregate,  was  less 
than  that  of  Indian  corn  by  more  than  three  hundred 
million  bushels.  Compared  with  the  wheat  crop  alone, 
the  product  of  corn  is  very  nearly  five  times  greater  ; 
and  when  the  comparison  is  extended  beyond  our  own 
country,  it  is  found  that  the  corn  crop  of  the  United 
States  is  about  equal  to  the  wheat  crop  of  the  whole 
earth. 

The  following  are  the  decennial  returns  of  Indian 
corn,  as  given  in  the  census  tables  of  the  last  three 
decades : 

For  1840 377,431,874  bushels. 

1850 592,071,104      " 

1860 838,792,740      " 


EXTENT  AND  TALUE  OF  THE  COEN  CROP.     23 

It  appears,  from  this  comparison,  that  the  increase 
from  1840  to  1850  was  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
million  bushels,  and  from  1850  to  1860  it  was  nearly 
two  hundred  and  forty-seven  million  bushels.  For 
the  entire  period  of  twenty  years,  the  gain  was  over 
four  hundred  and  sixty-one  million  bushels,  being  at 
the  rate  of  a  little  over  six  per  cent,  a  year,  or  sixty 
per  cent,  for  each  decade. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  corn  crop  of  1860 
in  comparison  with  some  of  the  other  leading  crops 
of  the  country : 

Corn 838,792,740  bushels. 

Wheat 173,104,924  " 

Eye 20,976,285  " 

Oats 172,554,688  " 

Barley 15,635,119  " 

Buckwheat 17,664,914  " 

Peas  and  Beans 15,188,013  " 

Potatoes 110,571,201  " 

The  aggregate  number  of  bushels  for  these  eight 
crops  is  thirteen  hundred  and  sixty-four  million,  four- 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  thousand,  eight  hundred 
and  eighty-four,  making  an  average  of  over  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  million  bushels  for  each  crop. 

The  returns  of  the  corn  crop  for  the  several  States 
and  Territories  for  1850  and  1860,  are  indicated  in 
the  following  table,  in  which  the  States  are  arranged 
in  the  order  of  the  alphabet  and  not  in  the  order  of 
their  yield. 


24: 


INDIAN   COEN. 


1850. 

1860. 

Alabama.                       

Bushels. 

28,754,048 
8,893,939 
12,236 
1,935,043 
3,145,542 
1,996,809 
30,080,099 
57,646,984 
52,964,363 
8,656,799 

58,672,591 
10,265,273 
1,750,056 
10,749,858 
2,345,490 
5,641,420 
16,725 
22,446 
36,214,537 
1,573,670 
8,759,704 
17,858,400 
27,941,051 
59,078,695 
2,918 
19,835,214 
530,201 
16,271,454 
52,276,223 
6,028,876 
2,032,396 
35,254,319 
1,988,979 
440,540 

Bushels. 
33,226,282 
17,823,588 
510,708 
2,069,835 
3,892,337 
2,834,391 
30,776,293 
115,174,777 
71,588,919 
42,410,686 
6,150,727 
64,043,633 
16,853,745 
1,546,071 
13,444,922 
2,157,063 
12,444,676 
2,941,952 
29,057,682 
72,802,157 
1,414,628 
9,723,336 
20,061,049 
30,078,564 
73,543,190 
76,122 
28,196,821 
461,497 
15,068,606 
52,089,926 
16,500,702 
1,625,411 
38,319,999 
7,517,300 
2,388,147 

Arkansas  

California  .                          ... 

Connecticut  

Delaware 

Florida  

Georgia  

Illinois..   .       ...         

Indiana  

Iowa                               .    . 

Kansas  

Kentucky 

Louisiana  

Maine 

Maryland  

Massachusetts 

Michigan    .    .    .        

Minnesota  

Mississippi                  .    . 

Missouri  

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey  

New  York  

North  Carolina  

Ohio 

Oregon  

Ehode  Island  

South  Carolina  

Tennessee 

Texas       

Vermont  

"Virginia                        .      ... 

Wisconsin  

Territories 

592,071,104 

838,792,740 

The  principal  corn-growing  States  rank  for  1860  in 
the  following  order  : 


EXTENT  AND  VALUE  OF  THE  COEN  CEOP.     25 


1.  Illinois. 
2.  Ohio. 
3.  Missouri. 
4.  Indiana. 
5.  Kentucky. 

6.  Tennessee. 
7.  Iowa. 
8.  Virginia. 
9.  Alabama. 
10.  Georgia. 

11.  K  Carolina. 
12.  Mississippi. 
13.  Pennsylvania. 
14.  New  York. 

The  first  six  of  these  States  produced  in  1860  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty  million  bushels,  being  more 
than  half  the  product  of  the  whole  country. 

In  1840,  Tennessee  was  the  greatest  corn-produc- 
ing State  ;  in  1850,  Ohio  took  the  first  rank,  and  in 
1860  Illinois  stood  at  the  head. 

The  greatest  gain  made  by  any  of  the  principal 
corn-growing  States  has  been  made  by  Iowa.  In 
twenty  years  the  product  of  that  State  has  increased 
from  less  than  one  and  a  half  million  bushels  to  over 
forty-two  million  bushels. 

The  proportion  of  Indian  corn  to  the  whole  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  is  not  a  little  remarkable.  Com- 
pared with  that  of  potatoes  and  wheat,  it  stands  as 
follows : 

Potatoes  to  each  inhabitant, 210  Ibs. 

Wheat,      "  "          330" 

Corn          "  "         1,590" 

2,130 

This  gives  an  aggregate  of  more  than  two  thousand 
pounds  of  food  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in 
the  country,  from  three  leading  crops. 

The  following  is  an  approximation  to  the  average 
yield  per  acre,  and  the  number  of  acres  in  corn,  for  the 
last  two  decades : 


INDIAN   COEN. 


AOSES  ix  COEN. 

AVERAGE  YIELD. 

1860               .       ... 

25,417,961 

Bushels  per  acre. 

33 

1850  

23,682,844 

25 

Increase  

1,735,117 

8 

MONEY  VALUE  or  THE  COEN  CEOP. — In  estimating 
the  value  of  this  crop,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the 
market  price  of  corn  varies  greatly  between  the  East 
and  West.  In  the  city  of  New  York  it  has  ranged,  dur- 
ing the  last  six  years,  from  sixty  cents  up  to  two  dol- 
lars per  bushel,  averaging  during  the  last  three  years 
about  one  dollar  and  ten  cents.  At  the  West  it  has 
ranged  much  below  these  figures,  probably  from  fifty 
to  seventy  per  cent,  lower ;  but  as  most  of  the  corn  in 
that  section  is  consumed  on  the  land  where  it  grows, 
paying  the  farmer  much  better,  on  an  average,  than 
the  market  price,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  what  the 
crop  actually  realizes  to  the  producer.  Taking  into 
consideration,  however,  the  various  forms  in  which  it 
is  turned  into  money,  and  the  range  of  market  prices, 
it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  the  corn  crop  brings,  on 
an  average,  not  less  than  sixty  cents  per  bushel. 

But  there  is  an  important  item  which,  though  it 
has  found  no  place  in  the  tables  of  the  census,  cannot 
properly  be  omitted  in  computing  the  product  of  In- 
dian corn.  It  will  be  found  that  the  stalk  crop  of  the 
country,  including  all  the  stover  of  corn  raised  for  all 
purposes,  amounts  to  about  forty  million  tons.*  There 
is  no  regular  market  price  established  for  this  stover, 

*  See  Estimate  on  page  177. 


EXTENT  AND  VALUE   OF   THE   CORN   CROP.  27 

but  its  positive  pecuniary  value  is  not,  for  that  reason, 
any  less.  It  is  variously  estimated  from  three  or  four 
dollars  a  ton  up  to  twelve  dollars  and  over.  In  some 
parts  of  the  country,  and  by  many  of  the  best  farmers, 
it  is  considered  quite  equal  in  value  to  good  hay. 

As  there  is,  however,  some  difference  of  opinion 
in  regard  to  the  value  of  corn-stalks,  we  will  assume 
that  they  are  worth  five  dollars  a  ton,  on  an  average ; 
although  it  is  demonstrable  that,  when  turned  to  the 
best  account,  they  can  be  made  to  realize,  in  most 
cases,  nearly  or  quite  double  that  amount. 

Taking  the  grain,  then,  at  sixty  cents  per  bushel, 
and  the  stover  at  five  dollars  per  ton,  the  total  value 
of  the  corn  crop  for  1860  will  foot  up  as  follows  : 

838,792,740  bushels  of  grain,  at  60c. . . . .  .$503,275,644 

40,000,000  tons  of  stalks,  at  $5 200,000,000 

$703,275,644 

ESTIMATED  CROP  FOR  1870. — In  forming  any  con- 
clusions on  this  subject,  there  is  perhaps  no  better 
guide  than  the  comparative  increase  of  the  crop  during 
the  last  two  decades.  Though  agricultural  operations 
have  been  temporarily  interrupted  in  a  portion  of  the 
country  by  the  events  of  the  war,  it  is  now  probable 
that  the  nation  will  be  soon  restored  to  a  condition  of 
more  than  former  prosperity ;  that  whatever  the  coun- 
try has  lost  by  the  Rebellion  in  agricultural  products, 
will  be  more  than  compensated  by  the  increased  ac- 
tivity of  the  coming  years ;  and  that  the  census  of 
1870  will  show  that  our  staple  crops  have  not  lost 
ground  in  consequence  of  the  war. 


28  INDIAN  CORN. 

The  increase  of  the  corn  crop  during  the  twenty 
years  from  1840  to  1860,  was  at  the  rate  of  a  little  more 
than  six  per  cent,  a  year.  It  may  then,  we  think,  be 
fairly  taken  for  granted,  that  the  gain  for  the  present 
decade  will  be,  at  least,  equal  to  five  per  cent,  a  year. 
According  to  this  ratio  of  increase,  and  taking  the 
same  valuation  as  before,  the  corn  crop  for  1870  will 
show  the  following  aggregate,  in  quantity  and  value : 

1,258,189,110  bushels  of  grain,  at  60c. . .  .$754,913,466 
60,000,000  tons  of  stover,  at  $5 300,000,000 

$1,054,913,466 

CONSUMPTION  OF  THE  CKOP. — In  view  of  the  present 
and  increasing  amount  of  this  stupendous  crop,  it  be- 
comes an  interesting  and  important  inquiry,  where 
and  how  it  is  consumed. 

The  amount  of  corn  exported  is  small  compared 
with  that  of  wheat,  and  when  viewed  in  contrast  with 
the  product  of  the  entire  crop,  appears  quite  insignifi- 
cant. The  total  exports  of  corn  and  wheat  for  the  last 
six  years,  and  the  average  per  year,  are  as  follows : 

Corn,  40,895,237  bushels,  average  per  year 6,815,872  bush. 

Wheat,  112,938,693     "  "  "         ....18,823,115     " 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  ratio  of  corn  exported  is 
less  than  one  per  cent,  of  the  whole  crop,  while  that  of 
wheat  is  very  nearly  eleven  per  cent.,  without  includ- 
ing the  shipment  of  flour,  which  during  the  same 
period  averages  1,667,342  barrels  per  year.  If  this 
amount  is  added  to  the  grain  sent  abroad,  it  will  make 
the  ratio  of  wheat  exported  about  fifteen  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  crop. 


EXTENT  AND   VALUE   OF   THE    COKN   CEOP.  29 

But  there  is  another  view  of  the  export  of  corn 
which  presents  it  in  a  more  favorable  light.  While 
less  than  one  bushel  in  a  hundred  is  sent  directly 
abroad,  a  much  larger  proportion  than  this  is  indi- 
rectly exported,  in  various  forms,  more  remunerative 
to  the  farmer,  and  more  profitable  for  the  country. 
Indian  corn  enters,  in  a  larger  or  less  degree,  into 
nearly  ail  the  beef,  pork,  mutton,  butter,  cheese,  and 
lard  produced  by  the  entire  farming  community. 
These  products  are  not  only  in  great  demand  for  do- 
mestic consumption,  but  are,  all  of  them,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  mutton,  largely  exported. 

The  beef  shipped  to  Europe  from  the  port  of  ISTew 
York,  during  the  last  three  years,  amounts,  on  an  aver- 
age, to  forty  thousand  barrels  and  fifty-four  thousand 
tierces  per  year.  The  pork  shipped  during  the  same 
time  exceeds  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand 
barrels  on  a  yearly  average,  and  other  meats  exported 
amount  to  over  one  hundred  million  pounds  a  year ; 
while  the  aggregate  of  butter,  cheese,  and  lard  sent 
abroad  during  the  same  period  is  over  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  million  pounds.  These  results,  how- 
ever, are  less  than  they  would  have  been,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  exceptional  decline  in  the  export  of  pro- 
visions during  the  last  year. 

But  far  the  largest  consumption  of  Indian  corn  is 
by  our  own  people.  The  home  market,  which  is  more 
easily  reached,  is  vast  in  extent,  and  constantly  in- 
creasing in  its  demand.  Not  only  as  a  direct  article 
of  human  food  is  this  grain  largely  consumed  here  at 
home,  but  also,  and  to  an  almost  incredible  extent,  as 


30  INDIAN   COEN. 

provender  for  the  immense  number  and  variety  of  our 
domestic  animals.  The  same  commodities  to  which 
corn  contributes  for  export,  it  also  produces  or  aids  in 
producing  on  a  very  much  larger  scale  for  domestic 
consumption. 

As  an  illustration  of  this,  the  quantity  of  beef, 
veal,  mutton,  and  pork  absorbed  in  a  single  year 
by  the  city  of  New  York  alone,  is  indicated  by 
the  following  statement  of  live  stock  received  for 
1865: 

Beeves 273,274 

Yeals 77,991 

Sheep  and  Lambs 836,733 

Swine 573,197 


Total 1,761,195 

Nearly  the  whole  of  this  amount  of  animal  food 
was  consumed  during  the  year,  by  the  population  of 
New  York  city  and  its  vicinity ;  from  which  some 
conception  may  be  formed  of  the  quantity  of  meat  re- 
quired, and  the  quantity  of  corn  used  in  producing  it, 
for  a  population  of  over  thirty  millions. 

The  total  amount  of  butter  and  cheese  made  in 
1860  was  about  five  hundred  and  seventy  million 
pounds,  and  doubtless  at  the  present  time  exceeds  six 
hundred  million  pounds  a  year,  most  of  which  is  con- 
sumed by  our  own  people.  In  producing  these  arti- 
cles, Indian  corn  is  extensively  employed,  both  the 
grain  and  the  stover  being  found  profitable  for  the 
purpose. 

In  a  general  view  then,  of  the  consumption  of  corn. 


EXTENT  AND  VALUE  OF  THE  CORN  CROP.     31 

we  discover  how  great  a  proportion  of  the  crop  is  used 
for  conversion  into  other  kinds  of  food,  and  how 
largely  it  is  fed  out  for  this  purpose  on  the  land  where 
it  grows ;  thereby  tending  to  increase  the  prosperity 
of  the  farmer  by  improving  the  quality  of  his  soil. 
And  herein  consists  one  great  advantage  of  this  cereal 
over  wheat.  Though  both  are  largely  consumed  at 
home,  in  one  form  or  another,  and  both  to  some  ex- 
tent exported,  yet  the  result  in  the  two  cases  is  very 
different. 

The  corn  which  the  farmer  converts  into  other 
products  may  be  sent  abroad  or  sold  in  any  market 
without  reluctance,  and  with  advantage,  for  it  leaves 
an  enriched  soil  behind  it,  and  brings  back  wealth  to 
the  country.  But  when  the  wheat  crop  is  sold,  wheth- 
er at  home  or  abroad,  an  integral  part  of  the  farm 
is  sold  with  it.  However  largely  it  may  be  exported 
to  Europe,  still  the  land  where  it  grew  is  despoiled 
without  compensation,  and  the  fertility  of  the  earth  is 
bartered  for  foreign  gold.  Already  the  deterioration 
/  of  the  soil  resulting  from  this  husbandry  is,  in  some 
localities,  severely  felt,  and  farmers  are  anxiously  look- 
ing around  for  new  sources  of  fertility — for  some  ade- 
quate means  of  restoring  to  their  land  its  departed 
virtue.  But  the  system  of  special  crops — of  partial 
and  exclusive  husbandry,  is  wrong  in  principle, 
and  should  be  reformed.  If  the  practice  of  some 
farmers  is  continued,  the  loss  to  the  country  will  in  a 
few  years  be  serious.  If,  for  the  sake  of  present  gain, 
they  continue  to  trade  away  the  essential  quality  of 


32  INDIAN  COEN. 

their  land,  along  with  the  grain  it  produces,  selling 
out  the  very  sources  of  their  prosperity,  the  cream  and 
essence  of  their  farms,  at  sixty  pounds  to  the  bushel,  it  is 
certain  to  bring  impoverishment  to  themselves  or  their 
children. 


CAL1FOHXIA 


NAME  AND  OEIGIK 

MAIZE,  or  Indian  Corn,  is  an  herbaceous  plant  be- 
longing to  the  family  of  grasses  (Graminece).  Its 
Botanical  name,  Zea  Mays,  is  indicative  of  its  nutritive 
quality,  or  power  of  sustaining  life ;  the  generic  term, 
Zea,  being  derived  from  the  Greek  verb  Zao,  to  live, 
while  the  word  Mays  is  supposed  to  come  from  the 
Livonic  Mayse,  which  signifies  bread,  or  staff  of  life. 
It  stands  preeminently  at  the  head  of  the  cereals,  or 
cereal  grasses,  which  include  all  those  that  are  culti- 
vated for  their  grains,  such  as  wheat,  rye,  maize,  etc. ; 
the  term  cereal  being  derived  from  Ceres,  the  name  of 
the  Pagan  goddess  that  presided  over  grain  and  har- 
vests. 

In  England,  and  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  the 
word  Corn  is  applied  equally  to  wheat,  rye,  and  bread- 
stuffs  in  general ;  while  in  this  country  the  use  of  the 
term  is  limited  exclusively  to  maize.  This  specific 
application  of  the  word  has  been  confirmed  by  a  judi- 
cial decision  in  Pennsylvania,  in  which  it  was  ruled 
by  the  court  that  the  word  Corn  is  a  sufficient  descrip- 
tion of  Indian  corn. 
2* 


34  INDIAN   CORN. 

ORIGIN. — In  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  plant,  al- 
though there  has  never  been  room  for  reasonable 
doubt,  there  have  been  those  who  fancied  there  was 
room  for  argument.  America  is  clearly  and  beyond 
question  the  native  country  of  Indian  corn.  Yet, 
from  the  commencement  of  its  history,  writers  have 
not  been  wanting  to  contest  this  point,  and  to  claim 
for  it  an  Eastern  origin.  The  weight  of  authority 
and  of  argument  so  entirely  preponderates  in  favor  of 
its  American  origin,  that  it  is  scarcely  worth  while,  in 
a  work  aiming  to  be  useful  rather  than  learned,  to 
waste  the  time  of  the  reader  with  idle  and  unprofit- 
able speculation 

If  any  further  evidence  were  wanting  on  this  point, 
it  may  be  found  in  the  impossibility  that  a  grain  so 
nutritious,  prolific,  and  valuable,  so  admirably  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  man,  could  have  existed  in  the  Eastern 
world  before  the  discovery  of  America  without  coming 
into  general  use,  and  making  itself  universally  known. 
Had  this  cereal  existed  there  at  that  period,  it  would 
have  made  its  own  record  too  clearly  and  positively  to 
leave  any  doubt  on  the  subject. 

But  on  this,  as  on  some  other  topics,  there  will  al- 
ways be  found  a  class  of  minds  ready  to  keep  up  an 
argument,  whether  there  is  any  rational  ground  for  it 
or  not.  It  would  seem  to  be  time  to  dismiss  the  con- 
troversy by  accepting,  as  final,  the  generally  received 
conclusion,  sanctioned  by  such  names  as  Humboldt, 
Schoolcrafb,  and  Prescott,  that  Indian  corn  was  un- 
known to  the  Eastern  world  previous  to  the  discovery 
of  America. 


NAME  AND  ORIGIN.  35 

But  maize  is  not  the  only  important  plant  indige- 
nous to  the  Western  world.  Other  vegetables  highly 
prized,  either  for  their  usefulness  or  as  luxuries,  have 
had  their  origin  here.  Among  these  are  included  the 
Tobacco  plant,  and  the  Potato,  both  of  which,  t>ut  for 
the  discovery  of  this  continent,  would  still  be  unknown 
to  the  civilized  world.  Let  all  consumers,  then,  of 
these  three  important  products,  not  forget  their  obli- 
gations to  the  immortal  Genoese  navigator,  who,  when 
he  bequeathed  a  hemisphere  to  mankind,  transmitted, 
at  the  same  time,  two  priceless  articles  of  food,  and  a 
weed  of  questionable  value. 


ADAPTATION  TO  YAEIETIES  OF  SOIL  AND 
CLIMATE. 

THE  different  conditions  and  qualities  of  soil  re- 
sulting from  the  combination  of  its  elements  in  vary- 
ing proportions,  are  not  only  numerous,  but  probably 
incalculable.  This  diversity  is  strikingly  illustrated 
in  the  fact  that  adjacent  fields,  however  similar  in  ap- 
pearance, are  often  found  to  differ,  and  sometimes 
widely,  under  the  test  of  chemical  analysis. 

Yet  of  the  almost  endless  diversity  of  soils,  it  is 
remarkable  from  how  small  a  number  maize  is  ex- 
cluded. In  nearly  all  of  them  it  will  grow  to  matu- 
rity, while  in  most  of  them  it  thrives  with  tolerable 
treatment,  and  repays  a  generous  culture  with  an 
abundant  crop.  "  Indian  corn,"  says  the  Farmers 
Encyclopedia,  "  can  be  cultivated  on  land,  long  after 
it  has  ceased  to  afford  compensating  crops  of  any  other 
grain.  It  contends  with  poverty  better  than  most 
other  plants,  and  may  be  advantageously  grown  in 
any  soil  fit  for  cultivation,  not  excepting  blowing 
sands  or  retentive  clay." 

"  Corn  will  grow,"  says  Mr.  Joseph  Harris,  "  on 
all  soils,  from  the  lightest  sand  to  the  heaviest  clay, 


ADAPTATION  TO  VARIETIES   OF   SOIL   AND  CLIMATE.      37 

among  granite  rocks  and  on  the  richest  bottoms.  I 
have  been,"  he  adds,  "  in  a  two  hundred  acre  field 
in  Ohio  that  has  produced  annually  a  good  crop  of 
corn  for  over  fifty  years  without  manure." 

There  is,  indeed,  scarcely  a  plant  cultivated  by  man 
that  will  grow  with  equal  success  in  so  great  a  diver- 
sity of  soils.  The  evidence  of  this  fact  is  met  with 
in  every  direction  through  the  country.  The  travel- 
ler whose  way  lies  through  cultivated  districts,  passes 
over  many  qualities  of  land,  yet  nowhere  does  he  miss 
the  ever-recurring  cornfield.  However  far  he  may 
go,  the  soil  along  his  way,  like  the  landscape  that 
meets  his  eye,  is  constantly  changing,  but  the  crop  of 
growing  maize  continually  reappears.  He  passes  a 
thousand  planted  fields,  so  various  in  the  composition 
of  their  soils  that  scarcely  any  two  of  them  are  iden- 
tical ;  yet  of  that  thousand  fields  he  finds  a  large 
proportion  planted  with  corn. 

But  though  this  ubiquitous  cereal  so  readily  adapts 
itself  to  the  new  condition  it  finds  in  each  new  local- 
ity, making  itself  a  home  amid  uncongenial  elements, 
and  often  growing  with  luxuriance  where  other  ce- 
reals will  scarcely  grow  at  all,  we  are  by  no  means  to 
infer  that  the  quality  of  the  land  where  it  grows  is  a 
matter  of  indifference.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  no 
grain  more  sensitive  on  this  point  than  maize ;  none 
that  pays  so  munificently  for  fertility  of  soil  in  the 
affluence  of  its  yield. 

Another  property  of  this  grain,  which  no  other 
cereal  possesses  in  an  equal  degree,  is  the  VARIETY  OF 
CLIMATE  to  which  it  is  adapted,  and  the  facility  with 


38  INDIAN   CORN. 

which  it  may  be  translated  from  one  latitude  to 
another. 

Though  originally  found  in  or  near  the  tropics,  it 
has  gradually  extended  beyond  those  limits,  and  may 
now  be  seen  growing  over  the  greater  part  of  this  con- 
tinent, from  about  the  fiftieth  degree  of  north  latitude 
to  a  corresponding  parallel  south,  and  extending  to 
limits  not  far  short  of  these  in  the  Eastern  hemisphere ; 
though  in  the  latter  the  growth  is  less  vigorous  and 
the  maturity  less  certain.  When  transferred  from  one 
climate  to  another,  if  the  distance  be  not  so  extreme 
as  to  render  the  contrast  too  violent,  it  gradually  parts 
with  the  features  and  Ijabits  peculiar  to  its  recent  lo- 
cality, and  readily  acquires  those  that  are  appropriate 
to  its  adopted  home.  By  this  beneficent  arrangement 
of  Providence  its  value  and  usefulness  to  man  are 
greatly  enhanced,  not  only  by  rendering  the  culture 
more  general,  but  by  affording  the  means  of  multiply- 
ing its  varieties,  improving  its  quality,  and  increasing 
its  yield.  Indeed,  the  important  destiny  for  which 
this  grain  seems  designed  by  the  Creator,  is  in  noth- 
ing more  apparent  than  in  the  extensive  area  which  it 
covers,  and  the  variety  of  climes  in  which  it  thrives. 

Though  cultivated  quite  extensively  and  with  con- 
siderable success  in  Southern  Europe,  as  well  as  in 
portions  of  Asia  and  Africa,  yet  America  seems  to  be 
its  peculiar  home,  and  the  region  of  its  highest  per- 
fection. From  Maine  to  Oregon,  from  British  Amer- 
ica almost  to  the  extreme  verge  of  Patagonia,  this 
legacy  of  the  red  man  to  the  white,  in  some  of  its 
forms  or  varieties,  is  annually  cultivated.  Where 


ADAPTATION  TO   VARIETIES   OF   SOIL   AND   CLIMATE.      39 

frost-bound  Minnesota  lends  to  its  growth  a  short  and 
reluctant  summer,  where  the  rigor  of  a  Canadian  cli- 
mate concedes  to  it  a  few  weeks  of  glowing  sun,  or 
where  the  fervid  sky  of  Kansas,  or  the  sultry  air  and 
longer  season  of  either  Carolina  produce  an  earlier 
development  and  a  larger  growth  ;  in  short,  wherever 
on  this  continent  civilized  man  can  exist  with  tolera- 
ble comfort,  there  will  you  find  Indian  corn  pushing 
its  little  cylinder  of  folded  leaves  through  the  soil,  or 
unfurling  to  the  wind  its  long  and  graceful  foliage,  or 
lifting  its  newly  formed  tassel  to  greet  the  rising  sun. 
Though  its  growth  under  tropical  skies  is  more 
rank  and  luxuriant,  producing  not  unfrequently  stalks 
of  prodigious  size,  the  yield  of  grain  is  found  to  in- 
crease as  it  advances  toward  the  pole,  and  the  largest 
product  per  acre  is  said  to  be  obtained  near  the  north- 
ern limit  of  its  range. 


ADAPTATION  TO  THE  WANTS  OF  MAN. 

THE  consumption  of  maize  by  the  human  family, 
and  by  nearly  all  domestic  animals,  has  greatly  in- 
creased within  the  last  few  years.  As  an  article  of 
food  it  is  unsurpassed,  and  in  the  opinion  of  many 
unequalled,  by  any  other  grain  or  plant,  combining, 
as  it  does,  in  suitable  proportions,  all  the  essential  and 
valuable  elements  required  for  healthfulness  and  nu- 
trition. 

It  appears  from  chemical  analysis  that  Indian  corn 
contains  more  oil  and  starch  than  wheat,  with  rather 
less  gluten ;  and  therefore,  while  scarcely  inferior  to 
that  grain  in  nutritive  value,  far  surpasses  it,  as  well 
as  the  other  cereals,  in  its  fattening  properties,  which 
amount  to  nearly  eighty  per  cent,  of  its  composition. 
In  point  of  nourishment  it  is  second  only  to  wheat, 
and  even  here  the  superiority  of  the  latter  is  rather 
nominal  than  real ;  for  if  due  allowance  is  made  for 
the  loss  sustained  by  wheat  in  grinding  and  bolting, 
it  will  be  found  that  a  pound  of  corn  yields  quite  as 
much  nourishment  as  a  pound  of  wheat.  It  is  nearly 


ADAPTATION  TO  THE  WANTS   OF  MAN.  41 

fourfold  more  nutritious  than  the  potato,  which  has 
so  long  been  the  great  staple  and  staff  of  life  with  a 
numerous  class,  both  in  this  and  other  countries  ;  and 
it  has  been  proved  by  experiment  that  corn  meal  will 
sustain  a  workingman  longer,  when  fed  upon  it  ex- 
clusively, than  any  other  grain. 

The  numerous  preparations  and  manifold  forms  in 
which  maize  is  fitted  for  the  table,  contribute  to  ren- 
der it  the  most  various  and  valuable,  as  it  is  with  one 
exception  the  most  abundant  article  of  human  food. 

There  is,  however,  a  noticeable  difference  in  the 
properties  of  the  several  varieties  of  this  grain.  While 
the  constituents  remain  nearly  the  same  in  all,  the 
proportions  vary  in  which  they  are  combined,  and 
this  fact  still  further  increases  its  adaptation  to  the 
requirements  of  man  and  animals. 

"  For  the  colder  half  of  the  year,"  says  the  Amer- 
ican Agriculturist,  "  the  oil  and  starch  of  the  corn  are 
better  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  body,  than  the 
large  amount  of  gluten  in  wheat.  Corn  contains  all 
the  elements  needed  in  the  body,  and  in  just  about  the 
proportion  they  are  required  in  winter,  while  they  are 
nearly  suited  for  food  in  warm  weather." 

The  writer  might  have  added  with  much  truth, 
and  making  the  case  still  stronger,  that  tke  Southern 
varieties,  having  a  smaller  proportion  of  oil  than  the 
flint  corn  of  the  North,  are  thereby  rendered  a  softer 
and  cooler  food  for  the  climate  that  produces  them  ; 
while  the  presence  of  a  larger  amount  of  vegetable  oil 
in  the  maize  of  higher  latitudes  imparts  to  it  the  very 
quality  that  fits  it  for  the  region  of  its  growth.  It  is 


42  INDIAN  COEN. 

found  by  travellers  to  tlie  North  that  the  larger  the 
proportion  of  fatty  elements  contained  in  their  food, 
the  more  easily  they  withstand  the  extreme  severity 
of  the  temperature.  Accordingly  it  appears  that  the 
seal,  the  bear,  the  water-fowl,  and  other  animals  that 
supply  food  to  the  natives  of  the  frigid  zone,  acquire  a 
superabundance  of  fat  in  the  ratio  of  their  proximity 
to  the  pole ;  and  here  we  perceive  the  same  law  re- 
vealing itself  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  As  man 
advances  to  the  north,  he  finds  the  fuel  that  is  de- 
manded by  the  rigor  of  the  climate  partially  supplied 
by  the  indigenous  food  that  pertains  to  the  latitude. 

It  is  also  to  this  peculiar  property  of  maize  that  it 
largely  owes  its  unrivalled  excellence  for  fattening 
purposes.  All  domestic  animals  are  easily  and  rapidly 
fattened  when  judiciously  fed  with  corn  meal ;  and, 
what  is  still  more  important,  the  flesh  thus  acquired  is 
firmer  and  better  than  that  produced  by  any  other 
grain. 

A  further  and  more  detailed  consideration  of  the 
uses  and  value  of  this  cereal  for  purposes  of  food  may 
be  found  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 


CEKTArNTTY  OF  THE  CKOP. 

INDIAN  corn  is  usually  accounted  a  certain  crop, 
and  in  comparison  with  many  others  it  undoubtedly 
is  so.  When  seasonably  planted,  with  due  attention 
to  the  selection  of  seed,  and  tolerable  care  in  the  after 
culture,  it  has  scarcely  ever  been  known  to  result  in 
failure.  There  are,  of  course,  exceptional  cases,  arising 
from  providential  or  human  causes,  such  as  unseason- 
able frost,  absolute  sterility  of  soil,  utter  neglect  of  the 
crop,  etc.  Apart  from  such  instances  as  these,  there 
is  no  seed  which  the  husbandman  commits  to  the 
earth  with  more  certainty  of  securing  some  return  for 
his  labor. 

Yet  the  difference  between  a  moderate  crop  and  a 
large  yield  is  a  very  material  point  for  the  farmer  to 
consider,  though  he  too  often  overlooks  it.  Here  is, 
in  fact,  the  point  where  certainty  ends  and  contingency 
begins.  While  he  feels  reasonably  sure  of  a  moderate 
yield,  he  is  in  danger  of  neglecting  the  means  that 
would  make  him  almost  equally  sure  of  a  much  greater 
one.  The  interval  between  thirty  or  forty  bushels 
per  acre  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  is  very  considera- 


4A  INDIAN   COEN. 

ble,  and  if  lie  allows  himself  to  rest  in  the  confidence 
of  securing  the  former,  he  will  be  quite  apt  to  lose 
sight  of  the  possibility  of  the  latter. 

A  small  or  moderate  crop  is  nearly  always  a  mat- 
ter of  tolerable  certainty.  But  a  large  yield  is  encir- 
cled by  elements  of  doubt.  It  is  to  some  extent  a 
question  of  sun  and  rain,  of  dew  and  frost,  of  tillage, 
fertilizers,  etc.  It  is  a  question,  too,  about  which 
squirrels  and  mice,  and  greedy  birds,  and  myriads  of 
voracious  insects,  have  each  a  word  to  say. 

Yet  amid  all  these  contingencies,  and  in  the  face 
of  all  these  enemies,  the  intelligent  husbandman  re- 
poses undismayed  upon  his  conscious  resources,  reflect- 
ing that  the  same  Providence  that  has  strewed  diffi- 
culties along  his  path  has  also  endowed  him  with  in- 
tellect and  skill  sufficient  to  counteract  them.  He 
goes  into  the  cornfield  with  a  clear  head,  a  resolute 
purpose,  and  a  strong  faith,  well  provided  with  seed 
and  implements,  and  with  his  favorite  agricultural 
journal,  and  lo  !  the  formidable  host  of  obstacles  and 
enemies  vanish  from  his  presence  ;  and  where  a  slov- 
enly, unthrifty  man,  who  never  reads  and  never  grows 
wiser,  would  possibly  produce  a  crop  of  twenty  or 
thirty  bushels  per  acre,  he,  the  intelligent  farmer, 
raises  one  hundred  bushels  or  more. 


AYEKAGE  YIELD. 

THE  average  yield  of  Indian  corn  in  the  United 
States  for  1850  was,  according  to  the  census  of  that 
year,  twenty-five  bushels  per  acre  ;  the  extreme  limits 
being  eleven  bushels  for  South  Carolina  and  forty 
bushels  for  Connecticut.  For  1860  the  census  tables 
do  not  give  the  average  product  per  acre  for  the  whole 
country,  nor  do  they  furnish  any  returns  from  which 
the  average  yield  for  that  year  may  be  accurately  de- 
termined. We  have,  however,  numerous  reports  and 
estimates  of  acreable  products  from,  various  sections  of 
the  country  since  that  period,  from  which  a  proximate 
average  may  be  arrived  at. 

Mr.  Ezra  Cornell  has  reported  for  Tompkins  Coun- 
ty in  this  State  an  average  of  46.7  bushels  per  acre 
on  the  level  of  Cayuga  Lake,  and  32.4  bushels  in  lo- 
calities one  thousand  feet  higher.  From  other  coun- 
ties in  the  State  there  have  been  reports  and  estimates 
ranging  from  twenty-six  btshels  per  acre  to  forty  bush- 
els and  over ;  making  the  probable  average  for  New 
York  between  thirty-two  and  thirty-three  bushels. 

From  Ohio  we  have  returns,  both  official  and  other- 
wise, making  the  average  product  per  acre  in  that 


46  INDIAN  COEN. 

State,  for  a  succession  of  recent  years,  nearly  thirty- 
three  bushels  per  acre. 

In  New  England,  acreable  products  have  been  esti- 
mated and  reported  from  different  States  and  sections, 
varying  from  twenty-seven  to  thirty-eight  bushels,  the 
most  competent  judges  rating  the  average  at  about 
thirty-two  bushels. 

Some  estimates  from  Indiana  and  Illinois  would 
lead  to  the  inference  that  the  average  for  those  States 
will  reach  from  thirty-five  to  forty  bushels  per  acre. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  sections  of  the  coun- 
try of  no  small  extent  from  which  the  reported  esti- 
mates are  lower  than  any  of  these  figures.  In  some 
of  the  immense  cornfields  of  the  far  "West,  and  on  the 
large  plantations  of  the  Southwest  and  South,  the  cul- 
tivation is  necessarily  imperfect  and  neglected,  and 
the  yield  being  correspondingly  low,  contributes  to 
sink  the  average  for  the  whole  country. 

Taking  the  various  data  and  means  of  judging  as 
we  find  them,  though  there  is  some  room  for  differ- 
ence of  opinion,  we  may  yet  reach  a  general  conclu- 
sion that  can  scarcely  be  very  wide  of  the  mark. 

One  writer  puts  the  average  yield  for  the  whole 
country  in  1860  at  thirty  bushels,  another  at  twenty- 
eight  and  a  fraction.  The  editor  of  the  Country 
Gentleman  places  it  in  1862  at  thirty-five  bushels. 
The  opinion  of  the  latter  i%entitled  to  great  consider- 
ation ;  yet  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  slightly 
above  the  mark.  If  we  place  the  general  average  for 
the  last  five  years  at  thirty-three  bushels  per  acre,  it 
cannot  be  very  far  from  the  truth. 


AVERAGE   YIELD.  47 

The  difference  between  the  average  yield  of  this 
grain  and  the  amount  raised  per  acre  by  many  of  the 
best  farmers  is  at  first  view  not  a  little  surprising-. 
When  we  observe  scores  of  cultivators  in  every  direc- 
tion counting  their  annual  yield  by  the  hundred 
bushels  per  acre,  and  others  ascending  to  still  higher 
figures,  and  yet  find  that  the  average  for  the  whole 
country  during  the  past  twenty  years  has  ranged  from 
twenty-five  bushels  to  a  little  over  thirty,  we  can 
scarcely  credit  or  comprehend  so  strange  a  contrast. 
Yet  the  matter  is  very  simple  and  easily  solved.  The 
difference  in  crops  is  a  difference  of  diffused  intelli- 
gence ;  and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  contrast 
is  gradually  melting  away  in  the  presence  of  farmers' 
clubs,  and  before  the  increasing  circulation  of  farming 
journals. 


L I  B  u  A  K 

UN  I  V  KKSITY    OF  I 

••(>.-•;  i.  \. 


PRODUCTIVENESS. 

THERE  is  no  plant  or  vegetable  grown  by  the 
farmer  that  is  more  variable  in  its  yield,  or  more  sus- 
ceptible of  the  influences  of  soil,  season,  and  treatment 
than  this  grain.  Herein  lies  a  strong  argument  for 
attending  to  its  requirements,  and  studying  out  the 
conditions  on  which  its  productiveness  depends.  On 
the  records  of  State  and  county  fairs,  and  in  agricul- 
tural and  other  journals,  the  crops  frequently  report- 
ed give  striking  proof  of  the  prolific  capacity  of  In- 
dian corn,  and  well  deserve  the  attention  of  the  cul- 
tivator. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  large  yields  to  be 
found  on  record,  and  may  perhaps  serve  as  a  stimulus 
to  our  farmers,  prompting  them  to  aim  at  similar  re- 
sults. It  should  be  remembered  that  large  yields  of 
corn  tend  to  increase  the  supply  of  other  provisions, 
and  at  the  same  time  enable  the  farmer  to  keep  up 
the  quality  of  his  land.  Every  man,  therefore,  who 
raises  a  large  corn  crop,  not  only  improves  his  own 
condition,  but  contributes  to  the  prosperity  of  his 
country. 


PRODUCTIVENESS.  49 

David  R.  Bruce,  of  Desmoines  County,  Iowa,  a 
lad  of  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  L.  H.  0.  Bruce  of 
the  same  place,  aged  sixteen  years,  are  reported  in  the 
American  Agriculturist  to  have  produced,  the  former 
one  hundred  and  ten  and  a  half  bushels,  and  the  latter 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  and  a  half  bushels  per 
acre  without  the  aid  of  manure  or  fertilizers  of  any 
kind. 

A  writer  in  the  Country  Gentleman  has  stated 
that  Joseph  Wright,  of  Waterloo,  1ST.  Y.,  had  not  failed 
once  in  the  previous  three  seasons  to  get  over  one  hun- 
dred bushels  of  shelled  corn  to  the  acre,  by  planting 
the  red-cob  dent  corn  of  Illinois,  imported  direct  from 
the  prairies. 

The  late  Judge  Buel,  a  most  intelligent  and  enthu- 
siastic cultivator,  was  an  advocate  of  close  planting  in 
drills,  in  which  he  was  successful,  reaching  from  one 
hundred  bushels  to  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
bushels  per  acre.  The  Messrs.  Pratt,  of  Madison 
County,  by  the  same  method  succeeded  in  producing 
one  hundred  and  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre. 

The  editor  of  the  Annual  Register  of  Rural  Af- 
fairs states  that  one  of  the  best  farmers  of  his  ac- 
quaintance has  obtained  one  hundred  and  thirty 
bushels  to  the  acre  by  planting  his  corn  three  feet 
apart  each  way. 

The  Browne  corn  has  produced,  as  cited  by  Mr. 
D.  J.  Browne,  in  his  Memoir  on  Indian  Corn,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  bushels  per  acre,  weighing 
fifty-eight  pounds  to  the  bushel. 

The  Whitman  or  Hill  corn  is  stated  by  Mr.  Fear- 
3 


50  INDIAN   CORN. 

ing  Burr,  Jr.,  to  have  given  a  product  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  bushels  per  acre. 

It  has  been  announced  in  a  Kentucky  journal  that 
Major  Williams,  of  Bourbon  County,  succeeded  in 
raising  one  hundred  and  sixty  bushels  to  the  acre  by 
planting  in  rows  two  feet  asunder,  with  the  stalks 
twelve  inches  apart  in  the  row.  This  is  another 
among  many  proofs  that  corn,  if  rightly  treated,  may 
be  planted  nearer  than  the  usual  practice  without  los- 
ing its  earing  capacity. 

Mr.  C.  T.  Johnson,  of  New  Jersey,  has  reported 
to  the  Farmers'  Club  of  the  American  Institute,  a 
crop  of  the  improved  King  Philip,  reaching  nearly 
two  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  produced  by  close 
planting  in  drills. 

In  a  field  of  corn  of  six  acres,  planted  by  Henry 
Norton,  of  Western  Ohio,  one-half  the  field  receiving 
no  manure,  produced  one  hundred  and  twelve  bushels 
per  acre  ;  while  the  other  half,  by  subsoiling  and  lib- 
eral manuring,  gave  a  product  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  bushels,  the  ears  averaging  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a  pound  in  weight. 

A.  B.  Miller,  of  Marion  County,  Iowa,  has  written 
to  the  American  Agriculturist  an  account  of  sev- 
eral crops  raised  by  farmers  in  that  county  in  1860, 
yielding  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  bushels  per  acre;  stating  that  another 
farmer  in  the  same  county,  Mr.  B.  Long,  has  produced 
one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  bushels  per  acre  on 
three  contiguous  acres;  and  still  further,  that  Mr. 


PRODUCTIVENESS.  51 

Long's  son,  tinder  fourteen  years  of  age,  raised  ninety- 
four  bushels  on  half  an  acre. 

A  larger  acreable  product,  however,  than  any  of 
these,  and  probably  the  largest  ever  reached,  was  that 
of  Dr.  J.  W.  Parker,  of  Columbia,  S.  C.  It  is  stated 
in  the  Weekly  Tribune  that  the  corn  planted  by 
him  was  the  Bale  Mountain,  a  variety  obtained  from 
North  Carolina;  that  the  land  was  under -drained, 
highly  manured,  highly  cultivated,  and  closely  planted, 
and  that  the  yield  was  two  hundred  bushels  and 
twelve  quarts  of  shelled  corn  per  acre. 

But  the  prolific  vigor  of  Indian  corn  is  not  limited 
to  its  yield  of  grain.  The  stalk  crop  is  no  less  re- 
markable for  its  luxuriant  growth  and  surprising 
product. 

While  the  hay  crop  seldom  exceeds  two  and  a  half 
tons  per  acre,  averaging  over  the  country  probably 
not  more  than  one  and  a  half  tons,  the  amount  of 
stover  accompanying  the  maize  crop,  forming  a  part 
of  its  product,  and  considered  by  many  farmers  quite 
equal  in  value  to  hay,  generally  ranges  from  two  to 
three  tons  per  acre,  occasionally  reaching  four  or  five 
tons. 

When  the  stalk  crop  is  raised  for  the  purpose  of 
fodder  exclusively,  the  yield  is  higher  still.  Nine  tons 
of  this  fodder  per  acre,  weighed  after  curing,  are  re- 
ported in  the  Working  Farmer  and  stated  to  be 
sufficient  in  quantity  for  keeping  ten  cows  seventy  or 
more  days.  This  amount  has  not  unfrequently  been 
equalled,  and  occasionally  surpassed.  In  a  report  to 
an  agricultural  society  of  South  Carolina,  more  than 


52  INDIAN   CORN. 

twenty-seven  thousand  pounds  of  cured  stover  are 
stated  to  have  been  produced  on  a  single  acre. 

As  a  green  fodder  crop,  raised  for  soiling  cattle 
during  summer  and  autumn ,  the  weight  of  this  sto- 
ver per  acre  is  still  more  remarkable.  A  writer  in 
the  Country  Gentleman,  over  the  signature  of  a 
"  Buck's  County  Farmer,"  says  that  he  has  frequently 
raised  from  fifteen  to  twenty  tons  of  green  fodder  per 
acre,  and  considers  one  acre  sufficient  in  a  good  sea- 
son for  twenty  head  of  cattle,  from  about  the  begin- 
ning of  July  to  the  middle  of  August. 

Mr.  John  G.  Webb,  a  dairy  farmer  near  Utica, 
who  usually  plants  ten  or  fifteen  acres  for  summer 
feeding,  reports  his  yield  at  twenty-five  tons  and  up- 
ward per  acre.* 

R.  H.  Mack,  of  Parma,  Ohio,  in  a  communication 
to  the  Country  Gentleman,  gives  twenty-two  tons 
per  acre  as  the  result  of  his  experience  in  growing 
stalks  for  soiling  purposes. 

S.  "W.  Hall,  of  Elmira,  K  Y.,  has  raised  thirty 
tons  per  acre  by  actual  weight  (as  he  states  in  the 
Country  Gentleman},  but  considers  this  more  than  an 
average  yield. 

It  has  been  stated  in  the  New  York  Dally  Tri- 
bune, that  an  acre  has  been  known  to  supply  over 
forty  tons  of  green  fodder ;  and  a  still  larger  product 
is  given  in  ALleris  American  Farm  Book,  where 
one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixteen  pounds  of  green  corn-stalks  cut  from  one 

*  See  "Tucker's  Annnal  Register"  for  1864,  p.  99. 


PRODUCTIVENESS. 


53 


acre  in  a  single  season  are  quoted  from  a  report  to 
the  Pedee  Agricultural  Society  of  South  Carolina. 
This  is  the  same  crop  which  gave,  when  cured,  twen- 
ty-seven thousand  pounds,  as  quoted  above. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  inferred  that  such  crops 
as  the  above  are  matters  of  course,  or  things  of  daily 
occurrence,  nor  that  they  are  free  from  difficulty,  or 
achieved  without  effort.  The  contingencies  attending 
a  large  yield  of  corn  are  neither  few  nor  trifling. 
But  the  persevering  and  resolute  purpose  of  the  well- 
informed  cultivator  is  equal  to  them  all,  and  the  im- 
punity with  which  his  successful  crop  escapes  casu- 
alties and  defies  contingencies,  is  an  evidence  how 
much  can  be  accomplished  when  intelligence  is  guided 
by  science,  and  industry  is  aided  by  skill. 


LT  lilt  A  «,  i 

UIS'I  V  teliSj  Y  V    OF 

CALIFORNIA. 


LIMIT  OF  PKODUCTIOK 

To  the  yield  of  this  grain,  as  to  that  of  every 
other,  Nature  has  somewhere  placed  a  limit,  or  rath- 
er, perhaps,  has  surrounded  it  with  a  series  of  limits, 
which  no  skill  or  ingenuity  of  man  may  exceed. 
There  is,  for  example,  a  limit  in  the  prolific  power  of 
the  seed ;  another  in  the  capacity  of  the  soil ;  and 
still  another  in  the  area  or  space  required  by  each 
grain  for  perfect  development  and  fruition.  These 
might  be  called,  respectively,  the  limit  of  fecundity, 
the  limit  of  fertility,  and  the  limit  of  area,  or  dis- 
tances. 

It  is  safe  to  assume  that  neither  of  these  has  ever 
yet  been  reached.  The  productiveness  of  Indian 
corn  has  not  yet  been  tested  to  its  ultimate  boundary. 
There  is  a  possible  yield  greater  than  any  yet  accom- 
plished. "What  that  yield  may  be  we  do  not  know. 
It  may  be  two  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  per  acre ; 
probably  more ;  possibly  less.  But  what  we  do  know 
is,  that  two  hundred  bushels  per  acre  have  been 
achieved.  Beyond  that  lies  the  domain  of  uncer- 
tainty, a  vast  undefined  region  of  dim  twilight,  which 


LIMIT   OF   PRODUCTION.  55 

theory  may  explore,  and  experiment  may  develop, 
probably  with  useful  results. 

The  prolific  character  of  maize  is  shown,  not  more 
in  the  large  crops  spread  over  many  acres,  than  in  the 
self-multiplication  of  single  grains.  The  reproduc- 
tive vigor  inherent  in  each  separate  seed  is  not  a  little 
remarkable.  One  kernel  has  been  known  to  produce 
in  a  season  several  thousand  grains,  and  single  ears 
of  the  gourd-seed  variety  have  produced  more  than 
a  pint  by  measure. 

Now,  if  the  proximity  of  the  growing  grains  did 
not  interfere  with  this  fecundity,  if  close  planting  in- 
terposed no  limit  to  these  prolific  results,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  an  acre  might  be  made  to  return  a  thousand 
bushels  just  as  readily  as  it  now  returns  a  hundred. 
We  know  that  a  single  stalk  of  maize  will,  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  yield  a  pound  or  more  of  grain.  .And 
we  also  know  that  if  an  acre  of  good  land,  at  the 
proper  season,  were  literally  covered  with  grains  of 
corn,  placed  in  contact  and  sprinkled  over  with  earth, 
those  grains,  if  all  perfect,  would  all  germinate.  But 
would  each  one  return  a  pound  of  corn  ?  Certainly 
not ;  nor  any  other  quantity.  The  close  planting  vio- 
lates a  law  of  Nature.  There  is  a  certain  interval  or 
space  between  the  stalks  that  would  render  a  pound 
of  corn  possible  for  each.  There  is  another  interval 
that  would  reduce  this  quantity  to  a  gill ;  and  still 
another  that  would  render  every  stalk  in  the  field 
grainless.  These  intervals,  however,  are  not  fixed 
quantities.  They  vary  according  to  the  soil,  the  kind 
of  grain  planted,  etc.  For  each  of  these  varying  con- 


56  INDIAN   CORN. 

ditions  there  is  some  one  mode  of  spacing  better  than 
any  other — a  certain  arrangement  of  distances  that 
will  give  a  larger  yield  than  any  other.  Let  us  sup- 
pose that  yield  to  be  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
bushels  per  acre.  Then  the  spacing  which  gives  that 
product  is  the  best  possible,  and  no  deviation  from 
those  distances  in  planting  would  increase  the  yield. 
Here,  then,  would  be  a  limit  of  production  imposed 
by  the  law  of  distances. 

But  let  us  take  another  view  of  the  matter. 
Every  soil  not  absolutely  sterile  contains,  in  its  nat- 
ural state,  a  certain  amount  of  the  constituents  of  In- 
dian qprn.  .In  a  state .  of  perfect  fertility  it  would 
contain  the  largest  possible  amount  of  these,  and  in 
the  exact  condition  and  proportions  required  by  the 
growing  plants.  We  do  not  perhaps  know  what  is 
the  highest  point  of  fruitfulness  to  which  a  given  soil 
may  be  brought.  But  this  is  not  material.  The 
maximum  of  fertility  is  not  indispensable  for  a  maxi- 
mum yield.  If  the  space  occupied  by  the  roots  of  a 
single  stalk  contain  one  and  a  half  ounces  of  the  in- 
organic elements  of  corn,  in  the  right  condition  and 
proportions,  along  with  a  small  percentage  of  the 
organic  constituents,*  then  such  stalk  should  produce 
a  pound  of  grain,  so  far  as  the  yield  depends  on  the 
prolific  character  of  the  soil ;  and  if  an  acre  of  ground 
contain,  in  each  square  foot,  one-half  the  above  quan- 
tity of  corn  elements,  then  the  capacity  of  such  acre 

*  These  being  mainly  derived  from  the  atmosphere,  and  from  de- 
scending rains,  their  presence  in  the  soil  is  not  required  in  the  same 
proportions  as  the  other  class  of  elements. 


LIMIT   OF   PRODUCTION.  57 

i 

is  equal  to  over  three  hundred  bushels  of  grain,  so  far 
as  that  capacity  is  determined  by  the  fertility  of  the 
earth. 

If,  then,  the  farmer  brings  his  land  to  this  stand- 
ard of  fertility,  complying  at  the  same  time  with  the 
other  requisite  conditions,  he  is  entitled  theoretically 
to  expect  a  corresponding  result.  If  he  has  made 
sure  that  his  soil  contains  the  constituents  of  maize 
in  the  ratio  above  given,  he  has  reason  to  calculate  on 
three  hundred  bushels  per  acre ;  and  if  he  fails  to  get 
that  amount,  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  soil,  but  because 
there  is  another  limit  to  the  yield  earlier  reached  than 
the  limit  of  fertility.  He  is  barred  out  by  the  limit 
of  distances.  If  he  had  fertilized  his  soil  to  a  capa- 
city of  five  hundred  bushels,  yet  by  the  hypothesis 
above  stated,  he  could  only  get  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  bushels,  nor  even  that  amount,  unless  he 
complied  with  the  conditions  on  which  it  depends. 

The  only  barrier,  therefore,  of  any  practical  con- 
sequence to  the  farmer  is  that  imposed  by  the  law  of 
distances.  This  limit,  being  the  first  that  he  reaches, 
renders  any  others  that  may  lie  beyond  of  little  mo- 
ment. He  can  raise  but  so  many  bushels  on  an  acre 
as  this  principle  permits ;  and  how  many  that  may  be, 
experiment  alone  can  determine.  It  is  assumed  above 
to  be  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  bushels,  which  is 
doubtless  too  low.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  the 
further  improvement  of  existing  varieties  of  corn,  and 
modes  of  culture,  and,  still  more,  the  introduction  of 
new  varieties,  will  yet  prove  that  the  real  limit  of  pro- 
duction is  in  fact  much  higher. 
3* 


58  INDIAN   CORN. 

But  the  amount  above  stated  may  be  confidently 
taken,  for  the  present,  as  a  possible  yield,  having  been 
verified,  on  a  small  area  of  ground,  in  a  number  of 
instances.  It  is,  in  fact,  probable  that  many  farmers 
have  produced,  without  being  aware  of  it,  even  more 
than  this,  relatively,  on  limited  portions  of  their  fields. 

Though  it  is,  doubtless,  true  enough  that  results 
from  small  areas  are  not  to  be  taken  as  certainties  for 
large  crops,  yet  it  is  also  equally  true,  that  experi- 
ments on  a  small  scale  are  important  and  valuable  for 
determining  the  best  methods,  and  for  proving,  not 
indeed  the  certainties,  but  the  possibilities  for  entire 
crops.  The  large  yield  obtained  on  one  hundred 
square  feet  will  not,  of  course,  be  so  easily  reached  on 
an  acre ;  yet  the  experiment,  though  small,  will,  if 
successful,  be  the  sure  precursor  of  a  similar  yield  on 
a  larger  scale ;  for  whatever  is  actually  accomplished 
in  the  one  case  becomes  undoubtedly  possible  in  the 
other. 

But  after  all  that  can  be  said,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  value  of  a  large  yield  depends  on  what  it 
costs  to  produce  it.  Nor  is  it  at  all  likely  that  such  a 
yield  as  the  one  above  stated  to  be  possible,  would  be 
found,  in  the  first  instance,  a  profitable  crop.  The 
processes  by  which  it  would  be  at  first  arrived  at, 
would  probably  make  it  more  than  usually  expensive. 
Still  it  would  be  a  valuable  result,  and  a  point  gained 
in  the  right  direction.  To  reduce  the  cost  of  such  a 
yield,  would  be  a  subsequent  achievement,  and  one 
certain  to  follow,  in  due  season.  It  is  thus  in  a  grad- 
ual way,  and  by  single  steps,  that  all  valuable  progress 


LIMIT   OF   PKODUCTION.  59 

is  made.  It  sometimes  happens  that  these  single 
operations,  abstractly  regarded,  appear  of  little  mo- 
ment, and  sink  into  temporary  obscurity,  till  some 
thoughtful  mind  detects  their  importance  as  links  in  a 
valuable  chain;  and  subsequent  events  ratifying  the 
verdict,  shed  around  them  a  halo  of  light  in  which  the 
world  discerns  their  true  character. 


YAEIETIES. 

r\J  THE  varieties  of  maize  are  chiefly  distinguished 
by— 

1.  The  color. 

2.  The  number  of  rows  on  the  cob. 

3.  The  size  of  the  grain. 

4.  The  form  and  hardness  of  the  grain. 

5.  The  chemical  composition  of  the  grain. 

6.  The  color  and  size  of  the  cob. 

7.  The  length  of  time  in  maturing,  etc. 

From  these  and  some  other  characteristics,  and 
from  their  numerous  combinations,  have  resulted  an 
indefinite  number  of  varieties,  which  have  been  still 
further  increased  by  hybridizing  and  by  change  of 
climate.  To  repeat  here  the  almost  endless  catalogue 
of  existing  varieties  would  be  scarcely  possible,  and 
quite  unnecessary.  The  following  enumeration  em- 
braces most  of  the  kinds  in  use,  and  all  that  are  likely 
to  be  of  any  practical  value  to  the  farmer : 

YELLOW   COKtf. 

1.  New  Englcmd  Eight-rowed. — This  variety  grows 
from  six  to  eight  feet  high,  with  ears  averaging  nearly 


VARIETIES.  61 

ten  inches  in  length,  bearing  a  broad  kernel  of  bright 
yellow.  The  number  of  rows  is  invariably  eight,  and 
the  cob  rather  small.  From  this  corn  the  King 
Philip  and  some  other  improved  sorts  have  probably 
been  derived. 

2.  Golden  Sioux,  or  Yellow  Flint,  is  a  twelve- 
rowed  variety,  taking  its  name  from  the  Sioux  tribe 
of  Indians,  formerly  resident  in  Canada,  among  whom 
it  was  first  found.     The  grains  are  of  medium  size, 
and  cob  comparatively  large.      It   abounds  in  oil, 
makes  an  excellent  meal,  and  is  very  superior  for  fat- 
tening animals.     It  has  been  known  to  produce  one 
hundred  and  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre. 

3.  Canada    Yellow. — A   small,   early  maturing, 
eight-rowed  variety,  with  a  small  cob,  and  containing 
a  large  percentage  of  oil.     It  is  much  used  for  feed- 
ing to  poultry,  as  well  as  to  swine.    It  admits  of  close 
planting,  and  is  quite  prolific  of  ears. 

4.  King  Philip. — An  eight-rowed  yellow  or  cop- 
per-colored corn,  so  called  from  the  celebrated  Indian 
chief  of  that  name.     It  bears  a  long  ear  with  a  small 
cob,  and  the  kernel  is  larger  than  that  of  the  Golden 
Sioux.     It  is  a  hardy  variety,  ripening  early,  and  very 
productive.     It  is  much  esteemed  in  New  England, 
where  it  has  been  long  cultivated,  and  is  regarded  by 
many  as  one  of  the  best  field  sorts  in  use. 

5.  SoutJiern  Big  Yellow. — This  variety  has  a  large 
cob,  with  the  kernels  large  and  very  wide.    It  is  partly 
of  the  nature  of  a  Flint  corn,  but  has  less  oil  and  more 
starch  than  the  Northern  Flint.     It  is  late  in  matur- 
ing, but  quite  abundant  in  yield. 


62  INDIAN   COKN. 

6.  Southern  Small  Yellow,  with  grains  similar  in 
form  to  the  preceding  variety,  but  deeper  in  color.  It 
matures  earlier,  is  more  oily,  and  less  productive  than 
the  former. 

1.  Dutton.—  This  variety  was  introduced  by  Sal- 
mon Dutton,  of  Cavendish,  Vermont.  The  stalk  is 
of  medium  height,  and  the  cob  comparatively  large, 
with  ten  to  twelve  rows  of  grain.  The  grains  grow 
very  compactly  on  the  cob,  and  the  ears  being  well 
filled  out  at  the  tips,  and  of  a  rich  glossy  color,  pre- 
sent a  very  fine  appearance.  It  is  quite  prolific,  early 
maturing,  and  abounds  in  oil.  It  is  capable  of  pro- 
ducing one  hundred  and  twenty  bushels  to  the 
acre. 

8.  JBrowne. — This  is  an  eight-rowed  sub-variety, 
improved  from  the  King  Philip  by  Mr.  John  Browne, 
of  Long  Island,  in  Lake  Winnipiseogee.      It  has  a 
small  cob,  with  large  grains,  matures  early,  is  very 
prolific,  and  being  rich  in  oil  is  valuable  for  feeding. 
It  admits  of  close  planting,  and  has  produced  as  high 
as  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  bushels  per  acre. 

9.  Rhode  Island  Premium. — A  hybrid  variety 
of  comparatively  recent  introduction,  but  quite  pop- 
ular in  some  parts  of  New  England.    It  was  produced 
by  crossing  the  Canada,  the  Eight-rowed  Yellow,  and 
Red  variety  of  Rhode  Island.    With  close  planting,  it 
gives  a  very  fair  yield. 

10.  Yellow  Gourd-Seed. — This  is  a  cross  of  the 
Southern  Big  Yellow  with  the  "White  Gourd-seed. 
It  is  a  very  prolific,  many-rowed  sort,  with  a  small 
cob,  comprising  numerous  sub-varieties,  much  in  use 


VARIETIES.  63 

at  the  South  and  "West.    The  ears  grow  very  large, 
sometimes  yielding  a  pound  or  more  of  grain. 


WHITE  CORN. 

1.  Northern   White  Flint. — This  corn  is  semi- 
translucent,  with  a  rather  large  cob.     It  is  very  sim- 
ilar in  the  shape  of  the  ear  to  the  Yellow  Flint,  and 
embraces  numerous  sub-varieties.     The  grains  some- 
what resemble  those  of  the  Tuscarora,  but  contain  a 
large  proportion  of  oil,  and  produces  a  substantial  and 
excellent  article  of  meal. 

2.  Southern  Big    White,   with  twelve  rows  of 
kernels,  similar  in  form  and  size  to  those  of  the  Big 
Yellow.     It  is  a  softer  corn  than  the  Northern  Flint, 
containing  less  oil  and  more  starch.     It  is  conse- 
quently less  adapted  for  feeding,  and  the  meal  is  not 
easily  kept  sound  for  any  length  of  time. 

3.  Southern  Little  White. — This  has  the  grains 
smaller  than  those  of  the  former,  but  similar  to  them 
in  shape,  growing  more  compactly  on  the  cob,  and 
containing  a  larger  proportion  of  oil.     This  is  not  a 
prolific  variety,  and  not  extensively  cultivated. 

4.  Whitman  or  Hill. — An  eight-rowed  variety, 
with  a  small  cob,  with  the  ears  well  filled  out  at  the 
tips,  and  very  productive.     This  corn  is  well  adapted 
for  feeding,  but  is  not  profitable  for  marketing,  on 
account  of  the  dull  white  color  of  the  meal.     It 
admits  of  close  planting,  and  is  a  favorite  kind  in 
some  parts  of  New  England.    It  has  been  known  to 
yield  one  hundred  and  forty  bushels  per  acre. 


64:  INDIAN   COKN. 

5.  Tuscarora. — This  is  an  eight-rowed  variety, 
with  the  kernel  large,  soft,  and  remarkably  white. 
Though  not  a  sweet  corn,  it  is  frequently  used  on  the 
table  in  the  green  state.     It  is  destitute  of  gluten  and 
oil,  and  the  meal  when  bolted  resembles  in  appear- 
ance the  flour  of  wheat. 

6.  Long  Island  White. — The  ears  of  this  variety 
are  of  good  size,  and  usually  contain  from  eight  to  ten 
rows.     It  is  capable  of  a  prolific  yield,  and  produces 
a  meal  of  sweet  and  pleasant  flavor. 

7.  White  Gourd-Seed. — In  this  corn  the  ears  are 
shorter  and  much  larger  in  circumference  than  those 
of  the  flint  varieties,  containing  from  sixteen  to  thirty- 
six  rows  of  long,  narrow  kernels.     It  is  a  very  prolific 
variety,  extensively  planted  at  the  South,  and  is  the 
source  from  whence  many  other  sorts  have  been  de- 
rived.    Like  other  Southern  kinds,  it  contains  more 
starch,  and  less  gluten  and  oil,  than  the  flint  corns  of 
the  North,  and  is  therefore  less  suitable  for  shipping, 
and  less  profitable  for  feeding  to  fattening  animals. 

8.  Baden. — This  variety  is  an  improvement  of  the 
White  Gourd-seed,  and  takes  its  name  from  its  founder. 
It  is  very  productive,  with  a  small  cob,  and  grows  to 
a  remarkable  size,  yielding  from  four  to  six  ears  on  a 
single  stalk,  and  has  been  known  to  produce  as  many 
as  ten. 

SWEET  CORN. 

1.  StowePs  Evergreen. — A  late  but  prolific  variety, 
with  small  cob,  and  long,  deep  kernels,  which  are 
much  shrivelled  when  ripe.  It  is  hardy,  but  tender, 


VAKIETIES.  65 

continues  long  in  a  succulent  condition,  and  is  also 
an  excellent  variety  to  plant  for  soiling. 

2.  Narraganset. — A  small  early  variety,  with  eight 
to  ten  rows  and  a  red  cob.     It  is  sweet  and  tender, 
and  very  good  to  plant  for  a  succession.     It  thrives 
best  on  a  light  soil. 

3.  Rhode  Island  Asylum. — The  ears  of  this  variety 
are  large,  with  eight  to  ten  rows.     It  is  rather  late, 
but  productive,  tender,  and  excellent  in  flavor.     Its 
name  is  derived  from  the  institution  on  the  grounds 
of  which  it  originated. 

4.  Twelve-rowed  Sweet. — This  is  a  late,  hardy  va- 
riety, with  ten  to  fourteen  rows.     The. ears  are  large, 
the  yield  certain,  and  the  quality  tender  and  excel- 
lent. 

5.  Darling's  Early. — This  is  a  sweet  and  tender 
variety,  with  eight  rows,  and  of  prolific  yield.      It 
may  be  planted  for  boiling  until  near  the  beginning 
of  July. 

6.  Burr's  Improved  Corn. — A  hardy  and  produc- 
tive variety,  with  twelve  to  sixteen  rows.     The  ears 
are  of  large  circumference,  and  weigh,  when  fit  for 
the  table,  from  eighteen  to  twenty-two  ounces.     This 
corn  is  an  improvement  of  the  Twelve-rowed  Sweet, 
and  quite  surpasses  it  in  flavor. 

There  are  many  other  valuable  varieties  of  table 
corn,  among  which  are — 

7.  Adam's  Early  White. 

8.  Golden  Sweet. 

9.  Mammoth  Eight-rowed  Sweet. 

10.  Mexican,  etc. 


66  INDIAN  COEN. 

The  foregoing  enumeration  embraces  the  leading 
varieties  of  field  and  garden  corn.  Besides  these,  may 
be  mentioned  the  following : 

HdBmatite,  or  Blood  JRed,  of  various  hues,  but 
more  generally  a  deep  red.  It  comprises  a  number 
of  sub-varieties,  some  of  which  have  a  white,  and 
others  a  red  cob. 

Rice  Corn. — A  small  variety,  so  named  from  the 
resemblance  of  its  kernels  in  size  and  form  to  the 
grains  of  rice.  It  abounds  in  oil,  and  is  well  calcu- 
lated for  feeding  poultry. 

Parching  Corn. — A  small  variety,  somewhat  re- 
sembling the  preceding.  "When  parched,  it  is  very 
crisp  and  tender,  and  of  excellent  flavor. 

Chinese  Tree  Corn. — A  variety  in  which  the  ears 
are  suspended  from  the  extremities  of  separate 
branches.  An  improved  variety  of  this  corn,  which 
is  said  to  yield  seventy-five  bushels  per  acre  with 
ordinary  culture,  has  been  cultivated  for  some  years 
by  J.  L.  Husted,  of  Greenwich,  Conn. 

Oregon,  or  Rocky  Mountain. — A  peculiar  variety, 
in  which  each  kernel  is  enclosed  in  a  separate  en- 
velope. 

Egyptian  Corn,  with  a  head  bearing  some  resem- 
blance to  millet. 


IMPKOYEMENT  OF  YAEIETIES. 

THE  capability  of  improvement  that  belongs  to 
Indian  corn  well  deserves  the  attention  of  cultiva- 
tors. Progress  seems  to  be  a  law  of  its  nature,  and 
there  is  probably  no  variety  at  present  known,  how- 
ever poor  or  however  excellent,  that  may  not  be  made 
better  by  adopting  the  appropriate  means. 

This  progressive  tendency  is  clearly  seen  on  com- 
paring the  better  sorts  now  in  use  with  the  primitive 
grain  cultivated  by  the  natives  of  this  continent  at 
the  time  of  its  discovery.  The  further  we  go  back 
into  antiquity,  the  fewer  the  sorts,  and  the  poorer  the 
quality  appear  to  have  been ;  and  if  the  genealogy  of 
this  cereal  could  be  traced  to  its  source,  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  all  the  existing  varieties  would  be  found 
to  have  sprung  from  one  original  stock,  which  was 
doubtless  as  much  below  the  present  standard  as  the 
untutored  red  man  is  inferior  to  the  cultivated  white. 

The  progress  thus  indicated  in  the  past  history  of 
maize  points  clearly  to  an  advancement  in  the  future. 
The  law  impressed  upon  it  at  the  start  has  never 
yet  been  suspended.  Throughout  animated  nature 


68  INDIAN  CORN. 

the  principle  of  life  implies  ceaseless  activity  and 
onward  movement.  To  stand  still  is  to  stagnate,  to 
deteriorate,  and  to  decay.  In  obedience  to  this  prin- 
ciple, no  variety  of  Indian  corn  can  long  remain 
stationary.  If  neglected,  it  will  degenerate.  If 
rightly  treated  it  will  advance — slowly,  perhaps,  but 
surely,  toward  perfection. 

The  means  by  which  this  improvement  is  to  be 
effected  are  extremely  simple.  So  simple,  indeed,  that 
we  might  reasonably  expect  to  witness  greater  prog- 
ress than  we  have  yet  seen.  In  order  to  secure  this 
object,  the  chief  points  requiring  the  attention  of  the 
farmer  are  Selection  and  Culture. 

Every  man  who  will  exercise  suitable  care  and 
judgment  in  the  selection  of  his  seed,  without  neglect- 
ing its  subsequent  cultivation,  will  find  the  quality 
of  his  grain  and  the  amount  of  its  product  annually 
progressing ;  and  the  difference  of  a  very  few  years 
will  be  so  marked  and  unmistakable  as  to  excite  his 
surprise. 

This  principle  of  selection,  if  we  did  but  realize  it, 
is  one  of  great  extent  and  importance,  and  is  capable 
of  a  very  wide  application.  Its  effects  may  be  traced 
throughout  the  animal  as  well  as  vegetable  kingdom, 
and  the  field  of  its  influence  is  coextensive  with  the 
propagating  universe.  The  valuable  results  it  has  ac- 
complished, as  seen  in  the  various  improved  breeds  of 
cattle,  have  long  engaged  the  attention  of  farmers ; 
and  the  practical  application  of  the  same  law  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  though  more  recent,  has  been 
found  no  less  favorable  and  certain  in  its  effects. 


IMPROVEMENT   OF   VARIETIES.  69 

"  The  principle  of  selection,"  says  the  editor  of  the 
London  Field,  "  so  successfully  carried  out  among 
cattle  and  sheep,  has  of  late  been  applied  to  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  and  soon  the  various  kinds  of  seeds  bid 
fair  to  exhibit  those  qualities  of  superiority  which  can 
alone  be  produced  by  careful  and  continuous  discrim- 
ination   In  adopting  selection,  a  great  principle 

has  thus  been  evolved,  and  one  manifest  advantage  is 
that  it  is  open  to  every  agriculturist,  without  any  ad- 
ditional expense  to  carry  out  the  plan  for  himself." 

Mr.  Hallet,  of  Brighton,  has  applied  this  principle 
with  great  success  to  his  wheat  crop,  and  has  been 
able  by  that  means  to  more  than  double  the  size  of 
the  original  ears.  "  It  has  been,"  he  observes,  "  the 
great  leading  idea  of  my  life,  that  the  starting  with 
an  accidentally  large  ear  is  a  very  different  thing  from 
starting  with  a  similar  ear,  the  result  of  descent,  or 
pedigree.  Take  the  case  of  two  heifers  identical  in 
every  respect  but  pedigree — the  one  what  she  is  by 
accident,  the  other  by  design.  From  the  former  you 
may  get  any  imaginable  kind  of  progeny,  from  the 
latter  only  a  good  kind.  In  other  words,  you  have 
fixity  of  type  ;  and  the  good  qualities  gain  the  force, 
as  it  were,  of  impetus  by  continual  accumulation." 

It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  American  farmers 
are  neither  indifferent  nor  inactive  on  this  subject. 
Already  marked  improvements  have  been  effected  by 
this  means  in  some  of  the  varieties  of  Indian  corn. 
The  Baden  variety,  so  named  from  its  originator,  is  a 
striking  illustration  of  this  principle.  It  was  produced 
from  the  White  Gourd-seed,  by  Thomas  N".  Baden,  of 


70  INDIAN  CORN. 

Maryland,  who,  by  a  persevering  and  discriminating 
selection  of  the  best  seed  for  a  series  of  years,  with 
special  reference  to  obtaining  the  greatest  number  of 
ears  on  a  stalk,  finally  succeeded  in  establishing  a  va- 
riety which  yields  from  five  to  seven  ears,  and  which 
has  been  said  to  reach  as  high  as  ten  ears  to  a  single 
stalk.  The  Browne  corn,  an  excellent  variety  ob- 
tained by  improving  the  King  Philip,  is  another  illus- 
tration of  this  same  principle. 


NEW  YAEIETIES. 

CLOSELY  allied  to  the  improvement  of  maize  by 
selection,  is  the  introduction  of  new  varieties  by  cross- 
ing or  hybridizing.  Here  again  the  analogy  drawn 
from  the  animal  kingdom  holds  good,  and  the  same 
law  by  which  the  better  qualities  of  two  different 
breeds  of  animals  may  be  so  blended  in  their  joint  off- 
spring as  to  form  a  third,  different  from  either,  ren- 
ders it  equally  possible  to  combine  the  best  properties 
of  opposite  sorts  of  maize  into  a  new  and  distinct  va- 
riety superior  to  both  of  its  progenitors. 

But  here  the  principle  of  selection  becomes  more 
than  ever  important.  This  alone  can  give  to  the  new 
hybrid  that  established  character,  or  fixity  of  type, 
that  shall  render  it  reliable  and  of  permanent  value. 
"  If  nature  be  judiciously  directed  by  art,"  said  the 
late  John  Loraine,  after  a  series  of  careful  experiments, 
"  such  mixtures  as  are  best  suited  for  the  purpose  of 
farmers  may  be  introduced  in  every  climate  in  this 
country  where  corn  is  grown.  And  provided  the  de- 
sirable properties  of  any  of  the  various  corns  be  prop- 


72  INDIAN   COKN. 

erly  blended  together,  an  animal  selection  of  the  seed, 
with  care  and  time,  will  render  them  subject  to  very- 
little  injurious  change.  They  do  not  mix  minutely, 
like  wine  and  water.  On  the  contrary,  like  mixed 
breeds  of  animals,  a  large  portion  of  the  valuable  prop- 
erties of  any  one  of  them,  or  of  the  whole,  may  be 
communicated  to  one  plant ;  while  the  inferior  prop- 
erties of  one  or  the  whole  may  be  nearly  grown  out. 
When  this  object  is  obtained,  and  we  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  proper  arrangement  of  the  plants 
in  our  fields,  so  as  to  promote  the  utmost  product,  the 
crops  of  maize  will  by  far  exceed  any  estimate  which 
would  at  this  time  be  considered  probable  by  those 
who  have  not  carefully  examined  the  economy  of  this 
plant." 

To  hybridize  this  cereal  successfully  does  not  re- 
quire in  the  farmer  any  peculiar  or  unusual  faculty ;  it 
is  not  the  exclusive  privilege  of  genius,  nor  the  mo- 
nopoly of  gifted  minds ;  but  depends  for  success  upon 
the  plainer  and  more  useful  qualities  of  judgment, 
patience,  and  careful  attention.  A  few  leading  prin- 
ciples are  important  to  be  observed,  and  those  who 
may  be  inclined  to  undertake  the  propagation  of  new 
varieties,  may  perhaps  find  the  following  hints  of  some 
service  : 

1.  Determine  what  precise  traits  or  properties  you 
intend  the  new  corn  to  possess. 

2.  In  selecting  the  sorts  from  which  to  propagate, 
prefer  such  as  have  these  desired  properties  distinctly 
marked  and  predominating,  with  as  few  other  promi- 
nent qualities  as  possible. 


NEW  VARIETIES.  73 

3.  Let  the  varieties  you  employ  be  adapted  to  the 
climate. 

4.  Let  the  planting  be  so  adjusted,  as  to  time,  that 
the  tassels  and  silk  fibres  of  all  shall  appear  simulta- 
neously.    If  these  be  not  in  unity  of  time,  the  hybrid 
effect  will  not  be  produced. 

5.  Every  sample  used  to  propagate  from  should 
be  the  purest  of  its  sort,  and  if  possible  free  from  ad- 
mixture.    The  more  fixed  and  perfect  the  type  of  the 
several  progenitors,  the  more  certain  and  acccurately 
defined   will    be    the   qualities  that  mark    the   off- 
spring. 

6.  All  corn     planted   for  propagating  purposes 
should  have  every  opportunity  of  perfect  development, 
by  being  placed  in  the  best  soil,  at  wide  intervals, 
liberally  manured,  and  well  cultivated.    It  should  also, 
of  course,  be  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  the  pollen 
of  any  other  corn. 

7.  The  surest  mode  of  reaching  the  highest  results 
in  hybridizing,  though  it  would  require  more  time, 
would  be  as  follows  : 

After  carefully  discriminating  the  several  sorts  to 
be  used,  let  the  cultivator  improve  each  of  these  sep- 
arately through  a  series  of  selections,  as  already  ex- 
plained, and  then,  by  crossing,  let  him  propagate  the 
intended  sort  from  the  more  perfect  types  thus  ob- 
tained. The  new  variety  resulting  from  this  mode  of 
proceeding  would  afterwards  be  kept  pure  and  still  fur- 
ther improved  by  continuing  the  same  process  of  se- 
lection. 

It  would  not  perhaps  be  easy  to  foretell  the  extra- 
ct 


74:  INDIAN   COKN. 

ordinary  results  that  might  and  probably  will  yet  be 
reached  in  thus  improving  and  multiplying  the  varie- 
ties of  Indian  corn,  by  the  joint  aid  of  careful  selec- 
tion, judicious  crossing,  and  thorough  cultivation. 

"This  plant,"  says  a  writer  in  the  New  York 
Daily  Tribune,  "  hybridizes  with  great  facility. 
Some  choice  varieties  have  originated  in  this  way, 
and  others  will  undoubtedly  be  forthcoming,  as  no 
topic  occupies  more  space  in  our  agricultural  journals 
than  corn  and  its  culture.  Small  fortunes  have  been 
realized  by  the  originators  of  new  strawberries,  rasp- 
berries, and  other  perishable  fruits.  Others  have 
grown  rich  by  providing  machines  for  shelling  and 
grinding  corn,  and  chopping  the  stalks  into  fodder. 
But  to  the  fortunate  author  of  a  variety  which  will 
measurably  supplant  all  others,  there  will  be  a  rich 
reward." 

We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  there  is  at 
least  as  wide  a  margin  for  improvement,  in  the  case 
of  Indian  corn,  as  Webb  and  other  eminent  breeders 
have  found,  in  the  case  of  cattle  and  sheep.  The 
results  already  achieved  in  this  direction  clearly 
enough  indicate  that  a  broad  field  for  useful  and  re- 
munerating effort  is  here  presented  to  the  culti- 
vator. 

Whoever  will  apply  to  this  subject  the  requisite 
care,  judgment,  skill,  and  patience,  will  find  ample 
compensation  in  the  production  of  a  quality  of  maize 
superior  to  any  yet  known.  The  competition  is  open 
to  all.  The  humblest  farmer  in  the  country  is  just  as 


NEW  VARIETIES.  7"5 

likely,  as  the  wealthy  owner  of  a  thousand  acres,  to 
be  the  founder  of  a  new  variety  of  corn  that  shall  be, 
to  all  other  varieties,  what  the  South  Down  or  the 
Merino  is  among  sheep,  or  the  stately  Durham  among 
cattle. 


LIP,  It  AiiJ 

II  UN  I  V  KKSiTV    (>}• 

CALIFORNIA. 


CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  COEK 

THE  chemical  constituents  of  maize,  according  to 
Dr.  Jackson,  are  starch,  dextrine,  gum  or  mucilage, 
sugar,  gluten,  albumen,  oil,  phosphoric  acid,  phos- 
phate of  lime,  phosphate  of  magnesia,  silica,  potash, 
and  oxide  of  iron.  The  proportions  in  which  these 
elements  are  combined  vary  according  to  the  variety 
of  corn,  and  also,  but  in  a  less  degree,  according  to 
soil  and  other  circumstances. 

A  careful  attention  to  the  component  parts  of  this 
plant,  and  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  are 
both  useful  and  essential  to  the  practical  farmer.  ~No 
man  who  goes  on  from  year  to  year  planting,  culti- 
vating, and  harvesting  his  most  important  crop,  with- 
out any  definite  idea  of  the  elements  composing  it, 
can  consider  himself  creditably  posted  in  his  business. 

The  following  is  the  analysis  of  Dr.  Dana: 

Flesh  forming  principles,  (gluten  and  albumen).  12.60 
Fat  forming  principles,  (gum,  starch,  sugar,  woody 

fibre,  oil,  etc) V7.09 

Salts 1.31 

"Water 9.00 

100.00 


CHEMICAL   ANALYSIS   OF   CORN.  77 

In  the  ruta  baga,  according  to  Dr.  Dana,  the  fat- 
forming  principle  amounts  to  13  per  cent.,  and  in  the 
potato  to  24.34;  while  the  proportion  of  flesh-forming 
substance  in  the  former  is  equal  to  only  1  per  cent., 
and  in  the  latter  to  2.07  per  cent.  As  these  roots  are 
used,  more  or  less,  in  feeding  to  stock,  it  is  of  some 
interest  to  the  farmer  to  compare  their  nutritive  and 
fattening  properties,  as  here  stated,  with  those  of  In- 
dian corn : 

ANALYSIS  OF  INDIAN  COEN  (when  dried  at  212°  Fahr.,  to  expel 
the  water),  by  PEOF.  JOHNSTON. 

Starch,  etc 71.6 

Proteine  compounds 12.3 

Fatty  matter 9.0 

Husk 5.9 

Mineral  matter 1.2 

100.00 
ANALYSIS  OF  PEOF.  PLAYFAIE. 

Proteine 7.00 

Fatty  matter 5.00 

Starch 76.00 

Water 12.00 

100.00 

The  following  table,  by  Prof.  Johnston,  gives  the 
composition  of  the  ash  of  corn-stalks,  as  compared 
with  a  similar  analysis  of  the  straw  of  wheat,  barley, 
oats,  and  rye.  The  proportion  of  each  constituent  is 
given  for  one  thousand  pounds  of  the  ash : 


78 


INDIAN   CORN. 


Corn 

Stalks. 

Wheat 
Straw. 

Barley 
Straw. 

Oat 
Straw. 

Kye 

Straw. 

Potash    .    .           .... 

96 

125 

92 

191 

173 

Soda  

283 

2 

3 

97 

3 

Lime 

83 

67 

85 

81 

90 

Magnesia  

66 

39 

50 

38 

24 

Oxide  of  Iron  

8 

13 

10 

18 

14 

Phosphoric  Acid. 

1T1 

31 

31 

26 

38 

Sulphuric  Acid  

7 

58 

10 

33 

8 

Chlorine 

15 

11 

6 

32 

5 

Silica       

270 

654 

676 

484 

645 

1,012 

1,000 

963 

1,000 

1,000 

The  ash  of  the  grain  of  each  of  the  above,  when 
analyzed,  gives  the  following  proportions  : 


Corn. 

Wheat. 

Barley. 

Oats. 

Eye. 

Potash 

) 

237 

136 

262 

220 

Soda  

V325 

91 

81 

116 

Lime  

14 

28 

26 

60 

49 

Magnesia 

162 

120 

75 

100 

103 

Oxide  of  Iron  

3  j 

7 

15 

4 

13 

Phosphoric  Acid 

449  ! 

500 

390 

438 

495 

Sulphuric  Acid 

28 

3 

1 

105 

9 

Silica  

14 

12 

273 

27 

4 

Chlorine  

2 

Trace. 

3 

997 

998 

997 

999 

1,009 

These  tables  will  serve  to  guide  the  farmer  in  the 
application  of  fertilizers  to  his  corn.  They  indicate 
the  proportions  in  which  the  various  constituents  of 
both  the  grain  and  the  stalk  should  be  found  in  the 
soil.  If,  for  example,  he  is  about  to  plant  a  corn  crop 
exclusively  for  the  fodder,  he  finds  that  soda  and 
silica  are  required  in  the  soil,  in  far  larger  proportions 
than  any  other  inorganic  element,  and  next  to  these 


CHEMICAL   ANALYSIS   OF   COEN.  79 

phosphoric  acid.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  his  corn  is 
planted  primarily  and  chiefly  for  the  grain,  he  learns 
that  phosphoric  acid  is  required  in  a  proportion  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  all  the  other  elements  together,  and 
that  next  to  this  in  importance  are  potash  and  soda. 

An  inspection  of  these  tables  will  also  throw  some 
light  upon  the  relative  feeding  values  of  corn-stalks, 
and  the  straw  of  the  other  included  grains,  as  well  as 
upon  the  comparative  nutritive  values  of  the  grains 
themselves. 

The  proportion  of  ash  contained  in  any  plant  or 
grain  represents  the  amount  of  inorganic  matter 
that  enters  into  its  composition.  When  the  plant  is 
burned,  all  the  other  constituents,  amounting  gener- 
ally to  over  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  entire  weight,  dis- 
appear. We  are  thus  able  to  determine  what  grains 
contain  the  smallest  proportion  of  inorganic  matter, 
and  are  consequently  least  exhausting  to  the  mineral 
elements  of  the  soil.  f; .  . 

In  the  following  table,  Prof.  Johnston  has  given 
the  quantity  of  ash  yielded  by  one  thousand  pounds 
of  each  of  the  plants  named : 

Indian  Corn 15  Ibs.    Corn-stalks 50  Ibs. 

Wheat  straw 50    " 

Barley     "     50    " 


Wheat 20- 

Barley 30 

Oats 40 

Eye 20 

Peas..  ...30 


Oat          "     60    < 

Eye         "     40    " 

Pea          "  ..50    " 


The  investigations  of  Dr.  Jackson,  of  Boston,  in 
regard  to  the  properties  of  corn,  are  equally  curious 
and  instructive.  Among  other  interesting  facts,  he 


80  INDIAN   CORN. 

has  shown  that  the  proportion  of  phosphates  in  each 
variety  of  maize  depends  on  its  assimilating  power. 
It  was  found  that  of  two  varieties  ol  corn  (Tuscarora 
and  sweet)  growing  on  the  same  cob,  the  former  had 
less  than  half  the  amount  of  phosphates  contained  in 
the  latter. 

To  those  who  have  not  seen  the  report  of  Dr. 
Jackson,  a  brief  statement  of  his  further  researches 
will  perhaps  be  interesting. 

In  most  of  the  yellow  varieties,  the  oil  is  the  seat 
of  color,  the  hull  or  epidermis  being  transparent.  In 
the  white  varieties,  the  oil  being  colorless  and  pellu- 
cid, and  the  hull  transparent,  the  farinaceous  portion 
of  the  kernel,  which  is  white,  gives  a  similar  appear- 
ance to  the  grain.  In  the  haematite  varieties  the  red, 
purple,  and  blue  colors  are  chiefly  derived  from  the 
epidermis. 

The  proportions  of  oil  vary  from  six  to  eleven  per 
cent. ;  the  flint  corns  of  the  ISTorth  being  found  to  con- 
tain more  than  the  Southern  varieties.  The  oil  is 
analogous  to  animal  fat,  and  is  readily  converted  into 
that  substance  by  a  slight  change  of  composition. 

The  gluten  and  mucilage  contain  nitrogen,  which 
is  necessary  to  the  formation  of  fibrous  tissue,  muscle, 
nervous  matter,  and  brain. 

Starch  is  convertible  also  into  fat  and  into  the  car- 
bonaceous substances  of  the  body,  and  during  its  slow 
combustion  in  the  circulation,  gives  out  a  portion  of 
the  heat  of  animal  bodies ;  while,  in  its  altered  state, 
it  goes  to  form  a  part  of  the  living  frame.  Sugar 
acts  in  a  similar  manner  as  a  compound  of  carbon, 


CHEMICAL   ANALYSIS   OF   CORN.  81 

hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  in  the  formation  of  fat  of  ani- 
mal bodies. 

From  the  phosphates  the  substance  of  the  bones 
and  the  saline  matter  of  the  brains,  nerves,  and  other 
solid  and  fluid  parts  of  the  body  are  in  a  great  meas- 
ure derived. 

The  salts  of  iron  go  to  the  blood,  and  constitute 
an  essential  portion  of  it,  whereby  it  is  enabled  by 
its  changing  degrees  of  oxidation,  during  its  pas- 
sage through  the  lungs,  arteries,  and  veins,  to  convey 
oxygen  to  every  part  of  the  body. 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  each  kernel  of  corn  all  the 
elements  have  been  deposited  by  Nature,  that  are 
essential  to  a  healthful,  invigorating,  and  nutritious 
food. 


DEVELOPMENT  AND  STEUCTUEE. 

THE  vital  principle  of  maize  is  lodged  in  the  em- 
bryo, or  rudiment,  a  small,  clearly  defined  interior 
division  of  the  seed,  or  kernel.  This  embryo  is  the 
starting  point  of  life  and  growth.  It  extends  from 
the  base  of  the  grain  upward,  about  two-thirds  of  the 
distance  toward  the  crown,  and  lies  in  contact  with 
the  epidermis  on  one  side  of  the  kernel,  through 
which  it  can  be  distinctly  traced  by  the  eye. 

The  earliest  movement  of  the  seed  in  developing 
the  new  plant  is  termed  germination.  When  the 
plant  has  advanced  so  as  to  form  leaves  that  contrib- 
ute to  its  growth,  the  process  is  termed  vegetation. 

Three  conditions  are  essential  before  germination 
can  take  place.  The  presence  of  heat,*  moisture,  and 
air  is  indispensable.  After  the  seed  is  planted,  and 
these  agents  have  had  time  to  exert  their  quickening 
influence,  a  small  root  shoots  out,  with  a  very  rapid 
growth,  from  the  base  of  the  embryo,  and,  after 
another  interval,  the  stem  rises  slowly  from  its  apex. 

*  48°  Fahr.  is  about  the  limit  of  temperature,  below  which  corn  will 
not  germinate. 


DEVELOPMENT  AND  STRUCTURE.          83 

The  progress  made  by  the  roots  during  the  first  few 
days  is  quite  remarkable.  They  not  unfrequently 
attain  to  a  length  of  fifteen  or  eighteen  inches  before 
the  stem  has  made  three  inches  above  the  surface  of 
the  ground. 

From  the  relative  positions  of  the  stem  and  the 
early  roots,  the  former  springing  from  the  crown,  and 
the  latter  from  the  base  of  the  embryo,  it  is  evident 
that  the  most  natural  and  favorable  position  of  the 
grain  for  incipient  growth  is  with  the  base  downward 
and  the  crown  above.  When  this  condition  is  re- 
versed, as  continually  occurs  in  planting,  the  stem 
and  root  are  each  compelled  to  describe  a  curve, 
sometimes  equal  to  a  half  circle,  in  order  to  acquire 
their  normal  position.  When  this  position  is  reached, 
if  the  seed  should  be  turned  over,  the  stem  and  root 
would  again  promptly  bend  themselves  through  an- 
other curve,  to  recover  once  more  the  situation  natu- 
ral and  indispensable  to  their  proper  growth. 

That  the  position  of  the  kernel  when  planted  is 
calculated  to  affect  the  progress  of  germination  is  an 
obvious  and  natural  conclusion.  The  author  has 
found,  in  some  experiments  having  reference  to  this 
point,  that  grains  planted  in  an  inverted  position  are 
retarded  from  ten  to  fifteen  hours  in  the  time  of  their 
appearance  above  ground,  as  compared  with  others 
planted  in  an  upright  position. 

As  soon  as  the  germination  of  the  seed  begins,  the 
stem,  obeying  a  natural  instinct,  springs  upward  tow- 
ard the  sunlight,  while  the  roots,  equally  obedient 
to  an  instinct  of  their  nature,  travel  downward  into 


84:  INDIAN    CORN. 

the  earth,  and  away  from  each  other,  spreading  them- 
selves in  every  direction,  and  penetrating  many  thou- 
sand cubic  inches  of  soil,  in  quest  of  nutriment  to 
satiate  a  voracious  appetite  that  began  with  their 
existence,  and  will  only  be  extinguished  at  their  death. 
The  natural  proclivity  of  the  roots  of  plants  to 
push  their  way  into  congenial  darkness,  and  of  the 
stem  to  seek  the  presence  of  the  light,  may  be  illus- 
trated by  a  simple  experiment.  One,  among  several 
tried  by  the  writer,  for  the  purpose  of  observing  the 
early  tendencies  of  germination,  gave  a  very  clear  re- 
sult. Having  planted  some  grains  of  maize  in  glass 
jars  filled  with  earth,  the  kernels  being  arranged 
against  the  side  of  the  glass,  one  of  these  jars  was 
placed  in  a  dark  room,  and  the  other  exposed  to  the 
light  of  a  window. 

.  After  an  interval  of  about  thirty-six  hours  the 
roots  began  to  show  themselves,  and  after  another 
brief  interval  the  stems  made  their  appearance. 
The  only  peculiarity  about  the  latter  was,  that  in 
the  jar  exposed  to  the  light,  they  assumed,  before 
reaching  the  surface  of  the  soil,  the  green  tint  pe- 
culiar to  the  stalk  and  leaf  above  ground,  while  in 
the  other,  they  remained  nearly  white  after  rising 
above  the  soil.  In  the  jar  from  which  the  light  had 
been  excluded,  the  roots  formed  rapidly  and  abun- 
dantly against  the  side  of  the  glass,  while  in  the  other 
jar  they  retreated  from  the  glass  almost  in  a  direct 
line,  evidently  shunning  the  light,  and  seeking  to  hide 
themselves  in  the  recesses  of  the  soil. 

When  in  the  progress  of  its  growth,  the  stem  of 


DEVELOPMENT  AND  STRUCTURE.          85 

the  corn  plant  has  struggled  up  from  its  earthy  bed, 
and  approaches  the  point  where  germination  ceases 
and  vegetation  begins,  it  pushes  its  bodkin-shaped 
cylinder  of  compact  foliage  through  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  changing  its  color  at  once  from  white  to  green, 
and  opening  out  its  uppermost  leaves  to  enter  upon 
their  function  of  respiration. 

As  the  growth  advances,  other  rolled-up  leaves  are 
successively  developed  from  the  crown  of  the  stalk,  un- 
til the  tassel  is  fully  formed  and  the  plant  assumes  its 
perfect  outline.  The  leaves  grow  broader  and  longer  as 
they  rise,  one  above  the  other,  from  the  base  of  the  stalk 
more  than  half  way  to  the  summit ;  after  which  they 
gradually  and  uniformly  diminish  in  size  to  the  upper- 
most leaf  which  is  near  the  tassel.  "  One  leaf  grows 
from  every  joint  in  the  stalk,  but  in  such  a  way  as  to 
alternate  sides.  The  first  formed  leaf,  and  after  this 
every  leaf  in  regular  succession,  clasps  the  stalk  closely 
until  it  approaches  near  to  the  under  side  of  the  leaf 
above ;  after  this  it  grows  out  from  the  stalk,  and  a  beau- 
tiful fan-like  appearance  is  at  length  produced  which 
is  not  equalled  by  any  other  annual  plant  cultivated 
for  the  value  of  its  fruit." — Farmers  Encyclopaedia. 

The  stems  on  which  the  ears  are  formed  proceed 
from  the  joints,  commencing  usually  at  the  one  near- 
est the  ground.  The  number  of  ears  on  a  stalk  vary 
from  one  or  two,  to  five  or  six,  in  rare  cases  reaching 
as  high  as  seven  or  eight ;  though  it  is  not  often  that 
more  than  two  or  three  ears  are  matured  on  the  same 
stalk.  The  ranks  of  grain  on  the  ear  vary  in  number 
from  eight  to  thirty-six,  being  always  an  even  number, 


86         '  INDIAN   CORN. 

and  the  product  of  single  ears  is  about  five  ounces  on 
a  general  average,  though  occasionally  reaching  over 
a  pound.  The  dimensions  of  the  ear  range,  according 
to  the  variety  of  grain,  from  less  than  two  inches  in 
length  in  some  of  the  dwarf  varieties,  to  over  sixteen 
inches  in  the  largest,  and  sometimes  reaching,  in  the 
gourd-seed  variety,  more  than  half  that  number  of 
inches  in  circumference. 

From  the  extremity  of  each  ear  flows  out  a  cluster 
of  soft  and  silk-like  fibres  falling  like  drapery  over  the 
husks.  These  little  threads  are  charged  with  one  of 
the  most  important  functions  in  the  whole  economy  of 
the  plant.  Each  fibre  proceeds  from  a  separate  grain, 
and  every  grain  on  the  ear  has  a  fibre  to  represent 
it.  The  Farina  fecundans  is  a  fine,  light,  powdery 
substance  dislodged  by  the  wind  from  the  flowering 
tassel  that  crowns  the  stalk.  This  powder  or  pollen, 
descending  from  the  tassel,  lights  upon  the  silken 
drapery  of  the  ear,  and  the  rudimental  grains  are 
thereby  fertilized.  In  the  absence  of  either  fibre  or 
pollen,  or  even  in  the  failure  of  their  contact,  the  re- 
sult would  be,  not  an  ear  of  corn,  but  a  naked  cob. 

How  curious  and  inscrutable  is  this  recondite  pro- 
cess !  How  full  of  mystery  indeed  are  all  the  pro- 
cesses of  vegetation  ;  and  how  humiliating  to  the  tow- 
ering faculties  of  man  to  reflect,  that  though  his  mind 
may  range  at  will  through  infinite  space,  measuring 
spheres  and  orbits  and  periods  of  revolution  with 
amazing  accuracy,  penetrating  sidereal  systems  on  the 
confines  of  creation,  and  aspiring  to  embrace  the  uni- 
verse in  its  grasp ;  yet  when  he  walks  abroad  in  the 


DEVELOPMENT   AND   STRUCTURE.  87 

vegetable  kingdom  of  his  own  little  planet,  at  every 
footfall  he  treads  upon  a  mystery,  and  on  every  side 
his  intellect  is  overmatched  by  each  tiny  flower  and 
every  blade  of  corn  ! 

The  wide  range  of  climate  in  which  Indian  corn 
can  be  grown  to  maturity  necessarily  occasions  a 
marked  difference  in  the  length  of  its  season,  or  the 
time  it  requires  for  ripening.  This  period  varies  from 
two  months  to  six  or  seven ;  and  some  precocious 
kinds,  in  high  latitudes,  are  found  to  ripen  in  less 
than  sixty  days. 

The  average  rate  of  daily  increase  in  the  size  of 
the  stalk,  during  the  period  of  growth,  differs  with 
the  climate,  the  soil,  and  the  variety  of  grain.  In 
some  observations  made  by  the  author,  the  growth 
was  found  to  be  seventy  inches  in  fifty  days,  being  an 
average  of  one  and  four-tenth  inches  per  day.  The 
greatest  increase  noticed  in  a  single  week  was  twenty- 
two  inches,  and  in  a  single  day  four  and  a  half  inches. 
Some  of  the  largest  varieties,  especially  in  warmer 
latitudes,  would  probably  show  a  more  rapid  growth 
than  this. 

But  an  increase  of  even  four  inches  in  twenty-four 
hours,  though  small  when  compared  with  some  other 
instances  of  vegetable  growth,  is  yet,  in  one  aspect, 
curious  and  remarkable.  The  movement  of  this  in- 
crease, which  is  equal  to  an  inch  in  six  hours,  slow  as  it 
seems  comparatively,  may  be  converted,  under  a  pow- 
erful lens,  into  a  velocity  of  two  inches,  or  more,  per 
minute — a  rate  of  motion  easily  detected  by  the  eye. 

In  thus  bringing  the  movement  of  vegetable  growth 


88  INDIAN   CORN. 

under  the  distinct  perception  of  one  of  the  senses,  the 
mind  seems  to  come  into  closer  contact  with  the  mys- 
teries of  vegetable  life. 

The  height  to  which  this  cereal  is  capable  of  at- 
taining is  exceedingly  variable.  It  is  determined  in 
part  by  the  soil,  in  some  degree  by  the  climate,  but 
depends  still  more  upon  the  variety  of  grain.  It 
ranges  from  less  than  two  feet  to  over  fifteen,  and  in 
tropical  climates  a  still  larger  and  ranker  growth  is 
not  unusual. 

The  roots,  in  a  deep,  mellow,  and  fertile  soil,  are 
capable  of  penetrating  to  a  depth  of  over  two  and  a 
half  feet,  and  horizontally  have  been  traced  to  a  length 
nearly  equalling  the  height  of  the  stalk.  The  prop- 
roots  appear  at  that  stage  of  the  growth  when  the 
increasing  size  and  weight  of  the  stalk,  and  the  ac- 
cession of  tassel  and  ears,  render  such  support  need- 
ful. They  usually  spring  from  the  first  joint  above 
the  ground,  taking  an  oblique  direction  toward  the 
earth,  which  they  soon  reach  and  penetrate,  spreading 
through  it  in  search  of  nutriment,  and  anchoring  the 
stalk  more  securely  to  the  soil. 

The  juices  that  nourish  the  plant  are  absorbed 
from  the  earth  through  the  fine  and  thread-like  fibres 
of  the  roots,  passing  in  succession  through  the  roots 
of  large  size  until  they  reach  the  stalk,  from  which 
they  are  transmitted  to  every  portion,  and  to  the 
smallest  extremities  of  the  plant.  From  the  leaf-stalk 
this  sap  is  distributed  in  very  minute  veins  through 
the  whole  expanse  of  the  leaf,  which  brings  it  in  con- 
tact with  light  and  air.  The  watery  portion  of  the 


DEVELOPMENT   AND    STKTTCTUKE.  89 

sap  is  here  in  part  exhaled,  while  carbon  and  oxygen 
are  alternately  imbibed  and  given  off.  "  In  the  day- 
time," says  Professor  Johnston,  "  whether  in  the  sun- 
shine or  in  the  shade,  the  green  leaves  are  continually 
absorbing  carbonic  acid  from  the  air,  and  giving  off 

oxygen  gas When  night  comes,  this  process 

is  reversed,  and  they  begin  to  absorb  oxygen  and  to 
give  off  carbonic  acid.  But  the  latter  process  does 
not  go  on  so  rapidly  as  the  former ;  so  that,  on  the 
whole,  plants,  when  growing,  gain  a  large  portion  of 
carbon  from  the  air."  Thus  does  respiration  keep  up 
its  unceasing  work  through  the  leaves  or  lungs,  and, 
by  appropriating  from  the  air  with  nice  discrimina- 
tion precisely  what  the  plant  requires,  and  rejecting 
whatever  is  needless  or  hurtful,  purify  it  from  noxious 
elements,  and  minister  to  its  healthful  growth. 

In  whatever  light,  then,  we  contemplate  this  inter- 
esting plant,  whether  in  its  curious  structure,  or  in  the 
processes  of  its  rapid  and  vigorous  growth,  or  in  the 
flowing  and  graceful  outlines  of  its  foliage,  or  in  its 
tall,  erect,  and  majestic  stature,  we  equally  recognize 
the  hand  of  its  Author,  who  has  attested  its  value  to 
man,  by  impressing  upon  it  the  stamp  of  nobility  and 
clothing  it  in  forms  of  beauty. 


L  I  B  R  A  R  i 

"  !  V  KKSITY   OK 

CA  i  A  KOI r:<i.\. 


SEED. 

I.  SELECTION  OF  SEED  FOE  PLANTING. — That  the 
quality  of  the  seed  planted  by  the  farmer  has  a  mate- 
rial influence  on  the  quality  and  amount  of  the  re- 
sulting crop  is  a  matter  that  every  practical  man  well 
understands.  The  importance,  therefore,  of  giving 
the  most  careful  attention  to  the  selection  of  the  seed 
is  perfectly  obvious.  No  man  who  neglects  this  essen- 
tial point  can  place  any  reliance  upon  his  crop.  If 
his  seed-corn  is  not  properly  sorted  out,  he  cannot  be 
certain  of  its  kind,  its  value,  or  its  results.  If  he  does 
not  know  what  he  plants,  how  can  he  be  expected  to 
know  what  he  is  going  to  reap  ?  His  crop  will  be  a 
lottery,  with  more  blanks  than  prizes,  and  he  can 
form  no  reasonable  calculation  in  regard  to  it,  either 
as  to  quality,  certainty,  or  amount. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  in  due  season 
gives  thoughtful  heed  to  the  selection  of  his  seed, 
spending  an  ungrudged  hour  in  his  cornfield  at  the 
right  time  to  secure  the  most  perfect  ears  of  grain,  as 
the  germ  of  a  future  crop,  will  be  morally  certain  of 
at  least  a  reasonable  success.  He  has  made  a  good 


SEED.  91 

beginning  for  another  season.     The  first  step  is  well 
taken  and  in  the  right  direction. 

The  following  rules  for  the  selection  of  seed-corn, 
suggested  by  the  experience  of  practical  cultivators, 
will  perhaps  be  of  service  to  the  farmer  as  a  guide  in 
making  his  selection : 

RULES   FOR   THE   SELECTION    OF   SEED-CORN. 

1.  The  most  essential  point  to  start  with  is  a  good 
variety.     ~No  correct  farmer  will  plant  or  use  on  his 
farm  any  but  the  best  grain.     If,  therefore,  the  corn 
you  have  been  raising  is  an  inferior  kind,  abandon  it 
at  once,  and  procure  the  best  variety  that  will  succeed 
in  your  locality.     Begin  with  the  purest   and  most 
perfect  seed  you  can  obtain,  and  you  will  easily  be 
able  to  keep  it  pure,  and  make  it  continually  better 
by  attending  to  these  rules. 

2.  Select  your  seed  from  those  stalks  that  have  the 
most  ears,  taking  the  best  from  each  stalk. 

3.  The  earliest  ripe  in  the  field  is  to  be  preferred, 
unless  otherwise  objectionable. 

4.  Those  stalks  that  bear  their  ears  nearest  the 
ground  are  the  best  to  choose  from,  provided  the  ears 
are  right. 

5.  Select  large,  fair  ears,  with  kernels  of  a  bright, 
clear  color. 

6.  Prefer  those  ears  in  which  the  rows  are  most 
regular,  and  the  grain  most  uniform  in  size. 

7.  Choose  those  ears  that  taper  the  least,  having 
their  butts  very  little  larger  than  their  tips. 


92  INDIAN   CORN. 

8.  Of  several  ears  on  the  same  stalk,  those  that 
grow  nearest  the  ground  are  to  be  preferred,  if  they 
have  the  other  requisite  points. 

9.  Select  such  ears  as  grow  upon  the  shortest  foot- 
stalk. 

10.  Those  ears  that  are  well  filled  out  at  the  tips, 
with  the  grain  covering  the  extreme  end  of  the  cob, 
are  much  to  be  preferred. 

11.  From  each  ear  take  the  central  grains,  rejecting 
tips  and  butts.     It  has  been  satisfactorily  proved  that 
the  kernels  near  the  ends  of  the  cob  give  a  smaller 
yield  and  an  inferior  grain. 

12.  If  you  plant  seed  not  raised  in  your  own 
vicinity,  let  it  be  from  a  colder  rather  than  a  warmer 
region. 

13.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  appropriate  a  small 
piece  of  ground  for  raising  seed-corn,  at  a  distance 
from  the  main  crop.     In  doing  this,  select  a  warm 
situation,  free  from  excessive  moisture,  and  let  the 
ground  be  subsoiled  or  trenched,  thoroughly  pulver- 
ized, and  well  manured.     Plant  in  hills  four  or  five 
feet  apart  each  way,  with  six  to  eight  grains  in  a  hill, 
thinning  out  afterwards  to  two  or  three  stalks.     The 
advantage  of  planting  more  than  you  intend  to  leave 
is  not  merely  that  it  provides  for  worms  and  accidents, 
but  it  gives   a   chance   for  preference  or  selection. 
When  the  corn  is  up  eight  or  ten  inches,  you  will  often 
find  a  material  difference  between  the  best  and  poor- 
est stalks.    You  thus  have  an  opportunity  of  selecting 
the  best.    The  greater  the  number  you  have  to  choose 
from,  the  greater  is  the  chance  for  perfection  in  those 


SEED.  93 

selected.  Your  seed-corn  being  now  well  planted  and 
fairly  started,  with  proper  attention  and  care  in  the 
further  management  of  it,  you  cannot  fail  to  secure  a 
fair  proportion  of  large  and  beautiful  ears  of  perfect 
grain. 

By  following  up  this  system,  the  farmer  will  dis- 
cover, at  the  end  of  a  very  few  years,  that  his  corn 
has  gained  many  fold  in  yield,  and  still  more  in  qual- 
ity. The  advantage  attending  a  discriminating  selec- 
tion of  seed  is  well  established  by  the  uniform  results 
of  experience,  and  it  seems  incredible  that  any  cultiva- 
tor can  be  indifferent  to  a  matter  of  so  much  conse- 
quence. He  may  bestow  any  amount  of  labor  upon 
the  tillage  of  his  field,  and  any  amount  of  expense 
upon  the  manure,  yet  if  he  plants  an  inferior  grain, 
he  can  only  gather  an  inferior  crop.  The  difference 
between  thirty  or  forty  bushels  per  acre,  and  sixty  or 
seventy  bushels,  may  very  possibly  prove  to  be,  in 
practice,  a  mere  question  of  seed.  Whether  his  crop 
will  return  him  ten  per  cent,  or  fifty  per  cent,  on  the 
cost  of  it>  may  depend  entirely  upon  the  single  hour 
that  he  did  or  did  not  employ  in  selecting  his  grain 
for  planting.  If  such  considerations  as  these,  that  go 
right  into  the  farmer's  pocket,  are  not  sufficient  to 
arrest  his  attention  and  influence  his  practice,  his  in- 
difference may  indeed  be  considered  hopelessly  incu- 
rable. 

II.  PREPARATION  OF  SEED  FOE  PLANTING. — It  is  a 
very  general  practice,  with  the  best  farmers,  to  steep 
the  seed  of  this  grain  before  planting,  and  the  prac- 
tice seems  to  be  justified  by  reason  and  experience. 


94:  INDIA!*   CORN". 

It  is  attended  with  a  twofold  advantage :  in  quicken- 
ing and  promoting  germination,  and  in  offering  a 
means  of  protection  against  the  earliest  and  most 
dangerous  enemies.  There  are  various  liquid  prepa- 
rations employed  for  tins  purpose.  Some  of  the  more 
usual  are  solutions  of  saltpetre,  guano,  copperas,  wood 
ashes,  etc.  The  sulphate,  nitrate,  and  muriate  of  am- 
monia, and  chloride  of  lime  have  also  been  used  with 
advantage,  as  well  as  urine,  and  other  forms  of  liquid 
manure.  These  solutions,  however,  require  to  be 
used  with  caution,  and  most  of  them  should  be  made 
very  dilute. 

Some  cultivators  are  in  the  habit  of  employing 
powerful  solutions,  and  others  recommend  to  raise 
them  to  a  very  unusual  temperature,  as  if  they  imag- 
ined that  some  extraordinary  effort  in  starting  the 
crop  were  going  to  have  the  effect  of  a  charm  all  the 
way  through.  But  the  object  of  steeping  is  to  pro- 
mote, not  merely  a  quick  but  a  healthy  germination ; 
and  this  is  not  to  be  accomplished  by  the  use  of  ex- 
cessive stimulants.  A  morbid  growth,  however  rapid, 
is  no  ultimate  advantage.  The  results  of  experience 
combine  to  prove  that  in  this,  as  in  every  other  stage 
of  the  growth  of  corn,  there  is  nothing  gained  by 
doing  violence  to  the  processes  of  Nature. 

Some  solutions  are  more  effectual  than  others  in 
protecting  the  grain  against  its  enemies.  Saltpetre 
and  copperas  are  each  considered  good  for  this  pur- 
pose, but  a  moderate  coating  of  tar  is  found  to  be 
still  better,  and  this  practice  is  now  pretty  generally 
adopted. 


SEED.  95 

The  late  Judge  Buel  recommended  a  moderate 
solution  of  crude  saltpetre,  to  which  he  added  half  a 
pint  of  tar  for  eight  quarts  of  seed ;  the  tar  previously 
diluted  with  a  quart  of  warm  water.  The  mass  is  to 
be  well  stirred,  and  when  the  corn  is  taken  out,  let  as 
much  plaster  be  added  as  will  adhere  to  the  grain. 
The  experience  of  years,  he  adds,  will  warrant  me  in 
confidently  recommending  this  as  a  protection  for  the 
seed. 

Coal  or  gas  tar  is  now  preferred  by  many  farmers, 
and  when  used  should  be  limited  in  quantity  and  ap- 
plied as  evenly  as  possible.  Mr.  G-.  Haines,  of  New 
Jersey,  in  writing  to  the  Country  Gentleman,  re- 
marks :  "  I  have  used  both  kinds  of  tar  for  that  pur- 
pose, but  for  the  last  ten  years  have  preferred  gas  or 
coal  tar,  because  it  is  much  more  easily  applied,  and 
equally  safe.  If  the  corn  is  made  jet  black  with  it, 
it  may  not  grow,  but  there  is  no  occasion  for  that. 
Take  a  paddle  and  dip  from  the  tar  to  the  corn  once 
or  twice,  then  stir  till  the  corn  is  all  coated,  and 
appears  through  the  tar  of  a  yellowish  brown  color. 
It  may  easily  be  tested  by  throwing  a  little  to  the 
poultry.  The  crow  blackbirds  have  about  twenty 
nests  in  the  pine  and  cedars  of  my  yard  each  spring ; 
but  if  my  planted  corn  was  tarred  (which  is  gener- 
ally the  case),  I  have  not  the  slightest  objection  to  it." 

Mr.  G.  F.  Saxton,  of  Williston,  Vt«,  writes  to  the 
American  Institute  Farmers'  Club  as  follows :  "  You 
are  mistaken  in  supposing  coal  tar  will  injure  seed 
corn.  I  have  used  it  for  five  years  upon  seed  for  sev- 
eral acres  annually  with  perfect  success,  as  follows : 


96  INDIAN  COEN. 

Soak  the  seed  ten  or  twelve  hours,  drain  off  the  water, 
apply  the  tar  immediately  in  proportions  of  half  a 
pint  of  tar  to  one  bushel  of  corn,  and  stir  until  coated 
equally.  If  the  corn  is  cold  it  is  better  to  put  hot 
water  with  the  tar  to  thin  it,  as  much  water  as  tar,  as 
it  will  be  easier  mixing.  If  this  mode  is  followed,  I 
will  warrant  the  seed  to  grow  as  well  as  without  tar." 

In  the  further  discussion  by  the  Club,  it  was  re- 
marked :  "  We  are  glad-  to  be  set  right  by  a  practical 
man  in  relation  to  the  use  of  coal  tar.  "We  will  also 
state  in  this  connection,  that  it  is  recommended  as  a 
good  preventive  of  the  ravages  of  worms  and  bugs. 

"Adrian  Bergen  said  he  always  soaked  and 
tarred  his  corn,  and  believes  the  tar  some  protection 
against  crows  as  well  as  insects. 

"  John  G.  Bergen  said  the  trouble  about  using 
coal  tar  is  that  those  who  have  complained  of  its  in- 
juring the  seed  have  used  too  much.  The  quantity 
recommended  by  Mr.  Saxton  is  quite  sufficient  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  applied,  yet  not  enough  to  in- 
jure the  germ.  To  obviate  the  trouble  of  seed  stick- 
ing to  the  hands,  mix  it  with  dry  ashes,  plaster,  or 
dust." 


LI  nn  A  u  \ 

UKJ  YKKSITY    OF  I 


TIME  TO  PLANT. 

THE  proper  time  to  plant  corn  depends  on  circum- 
stances so  many  and  various,  that  no  specific  rule  can 
be  laid  down  on  the  subject.  It  differs  according  to 
the  variety  of  grain  planted,  the  character  of  the  soil, 
the  climate,  the  season,  etc.  Between  the  extreme 
northern  and  southern  sections  of  the  country,  the 
difference  of  time  amounts  to  three  or  four  months. 
In  some  parts  of  Maine  and  Minnesota  the  usual  sea- 
son for  planting  is  June ;  while  in  Florida  or  Louisi- 
ana it  is  usually  March.  Throughout  the  Middle 
States  and  most  of  New  England,  the  period  consid- 
ered safest,  as  a  general  rule,  is  the  middle  of  May. 
Yet  such  is  the  difference  of  seasons,  that  in  some 
years  a  crop  planted  during  the  last  week  in  April, 
and  in  other  years  the  first  week  in  June,  would  give 
a  better  result  than  if  planted  at  the  middle  of  May, 
showing  a  difference  of  more  than  a  month  m  the 
same  latitude,  produced  by  a  difference  of  seasons. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  vicissitudes  of  the  weather 
in  different  years  have  a  more  disturbing  effect  on  the 
time  for  planting  than  any  of  the  other  causes.  In 
5 


98  INDIAN   CORN. 

fact  this  question  of  fluctuating  weather,  of  early  or 
late  season,  is  after  all  the  only  real  difficulty  in  the 
case,  and  the  one  on  which  all  the  others  depend. 
The  other  contingencies  are  made  so  by  this.  They 
are  variable,  but  all  of  them  are  determinate.  If, 
therefore,  the  question  of  soil,  of  latitude,  and  all  the 
other  variable  elements  could  be  separated  from  the 
vicissitudes  of  temperature,  the  time  for  planting  corn, 
so  far  as  relates  to  them,  might  be  reduced  to  fixed 
rules. 

It  is  true  that  latitudes  vary,  and  each  differ- 
ent degree  requires  a  different  period  for  planting. 
Yet  every  farmer  knows  that  his  latitude  is  a  fixed, 
assignable  figure,  and  that  it  always  remains  the 
same.  It  differs  from  that  of  other  men,  but  for  him  it 
is  unchanging.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  soils. 
A  sandy  loam  may  require  a  period  for  planting  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  would  suit  a  tenacious  clay. 
But  the  farmer  who  has  a  sandy  loam  one  year,  will 
not  find  it  changed  into  clay  the  year  following. 
Though  soils  differ  for  different  individuals,  yet  for 
each  man  they  remain  the  same.  So  also  in  regard 
to  all  the  other  circumstances  affecting  the  ques- 
tion. 

Could  we,  then,  reduce  the  inconstancy  of  the  weath- 
er to  a  condition  of  like  certainty,  or  bring  it  within 
determinate  limits,  it  would  be  quite  possible  to  assign 
a  precise  day  of  the  month  for  each  kind  of  soil,  for 
every  variety  of  corn,  and  for  every  degree  of  latitude, 
which  might  be  adopted  in  planting  with  perfect 
safety.  We  might  lay  down  an  accurate  time-table 


TIME  TO   PLANT.  99 

for  planting  corn  that  would  apply  to  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  meet  the  case  of  every  farmer. 

Bat,  unfortunately,  the  question  of  season  is  not 
determinate.  Temperature  rises  and  falls  according 
to  no  settled  or  ascertained  law.  Frost  comes  and 
goes  apparently  at  the  dictate  of  its  own  humor ;  and 
the  weather  is  capricious  to  a  proverb,  and  filled  with 
elements  of  uncertainty.  Man  has  learned  to  explore 
the  earth,  and  detect  the  causes  of  its  fertility,  to  reg- 
ulate its  production,  and  make  it  obedient  to  his  pur- 
pose. But  he  cannot  subdue  the  atmosphere  to  his 
will,  nor  assign  limits  to  its  phenomena.  He  can 
classify  all  the  plants  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and 
tell  with  accuracy  their  times  and  seasons ;  but  he  can- 
not reduce  storm  and  sunshine  to  a  system,  nor  bring 
the  clouds  up  to  time..  He  may  subdue  the  most 
incorrigible  soil,  but  he  cannot  subjugate  the  ther- 
mometer. He  can  dominate  the  mysterious  energy 
of  the  electric  fluid,  compelling  it  to  traverse  the  bed 
of  the  ocean,  or  to  circulate  around  the  globe  on  aerial 
wires  to  give  swift  wings  to  his  flashing  thought ;  yet 
can  he  not  arrest  for  a  single  hour,  nor  even  predict, 
the  fall  of  the  mercury  that  shall  blast  a  thousand 
crops. 

Thus  science  becomes  the  sport,  and  man  the  vic- 
tim of  fluctuating  weather.  Subject  to  no  fixed  laws, 
and  recognizing  no  assignable  limits,  it  defies  alike  all 
human  calculation  and  human  control.  It  comes 
into  the  arrangements  of  husbandry  with  the  reckless 
power  of  an  autocrat,  setting  aside  appointed  days, 
and  thwarting  plans  innumerable. 


100  INDIAN   CORN. 

On  this  subject,  therefore,  the  farmer  is  left  to 
depend  very  much  on  his  own  resources.  Yet  in  all 
this  he  finds  no  occasion  for  despondency.  He  finds 
that  a  sound  judgment  carefully  exercised  in  the  light 
of  the  experience  of  former  years,  and  guided  by  those 
hints  and  indications  that  Nature  is  ever  presenting 
to  inquisitive  minds,  will  nearly  always  shape  out  for 
him  the  course  of  safety  and  success.  In  settling  prac- 
tically the  question  when  to  plant  his  corn,  he  ban- 
ishes from  his  mind  all  those  maxims  that  embody 
their  entire  wisdom  in  a  specified  date,  or  in  a  pre- 
scribed stage  of  the  moon,  and  examines  the  condition 
of  the  soil  and  the  state  of  the  vegetable  world  for 
traces  and  indications  more  to  be  relied  on. 

"  There  is  a  right  and  a  ~best  time  for  planting 
corn,"  says  a  very  sensible  writer  in  the  Country  Gentle- 
man, "  and  by  employing  just  that  time  for  the  pur- 
pose, a  farmer  may  all  the  more  confidently  calcu- 
late, if  he  do  not  fail  or  err  somewhere  else,  on  raising 
a  maximum  crop,  not  only  of  the  grain  but  of  the 
stalks  also.  And  the  right  and  best  time  is  to  be  dis- 
covered, not  by  the  almanac,  nor  by  the  practice  of 
neighbors,  who  '  think  that  from  the  10th  to  the  20th 
of  May  is  the  proper  time  for  planting,'  nor  by  blindly 
copying  after  some  one  whose  whim  it  may  be  to 
plant  <  seldom  or  never  later  than  the  fifth  day '  of 
May,  but  simply  by  observing  the  progress  of  vege- 
tation in  soils  resembling  that  in  which  the  planting 
is  to  be  done.  Vegetation  will  start  sooner  in  sandy 
loams,  and  all  such  soils  as  contain  much  sand  or 
humus,  than  in  those  in  which  clay  predominates. 


TIME  TO  PLANT.  101 

Making  allowance  for  this  fact,  the  right  and  best 
time  for  planting  corn,  let  the  latitude  and  the  local- 
ity be  what  it  may,  is  to  be  discovered  and  determined 
by  observing  the  natural  vegetation.  "Whenever 
there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  the  ground  i&  warm 
enough  to  cause  a  speedy  germination  and  growth, 
then  is  the  time  to  plant.  And  to  ascertain  this,  I 
know  of  no  rule  so  safe  and  sure  as  that  which  Judge 
Buel  taught  me  and  others  many  years  ago,  namely, 
to  plant  when  the  apple  is  bursting  its  blossom  buds." 
But  human  judgment  is  not  infallible  ;  and  if  the 
husbandman  is  not  always  sure  of  his  time  in  plant- 
ing ;  if,  notwithstanding  the  utmost  care  and  attention, 
he  discovers  that  his  grain  has  been  committed  to  the 
earth  a  little  too  soon,  or  a  little  too  late,  he  yet  finds 
with  satisfaction  that  the  consequences  are  not  very 
serious,  if  he  has  faithfully  pursued  the  right  methods 
in  planting,  and  in  the  treatment  of  the  soil.  The 
careful,  well-informed  farmer,  the  man,  who,  by  read- 
ing, adds  the  experience  of  others  to  his  own,  has 
always  a  twofold  advantage  in  such  cases ;  for  he  is 
not  only  less  likely  than  others  to  commit  an  error, 
but  in  case  an  error  should  be  committed,  he  is  meas- 
urably insured  against  the  consequences  by  the  re- 
sources of  skill  and  science  which  have  already  been 
employed  in  his  favor,  and  which  are  still  at  his  com- 
mand for  any  emergency  that  may  arise. 

LI  IJ.R  A  ;;   -      1 

JK  1  V  KUS  i  •  V    «>F 

CALlKOiiXiA. 


THE  SOIL  AND  ITS  CONSTITUENTS. 

ALTHOUGH  Indian  corn  will  grow,  as  already  stated, 
on  nearly  every  kind  of  soil,  from  the  lightest  sand  to 
the  heaviest  clay,  yet,  like  other  plants  and  grains,  it 
has  its  preferences,  and  the  interest  of  the  farmer  lies 
in  consulting  these  as  far  as  possible.  However  well 
it  may  succeed  on  lands  where  other  grains  would  fail 
entirely,  or  make  a  feeble  growth,  it  is  only  in  a  well- 
adapted  soil  that  its  best  capability  is  developed.  Give 
it  a  congenial  element,  in  which  its  hungry  roots  can 
range  and  riot  without  limit,  and  it  will  make  generous 
returns,  that  will  even  exceed  the  liberality  of  the 
treatment.  "  It  delights,"  says  Mr.  Harris,  "  in  a  loose, 
pliable,  warm,  porous,  deep  soil,  abounding  in  organic 
matter.  It  does  well  on  all  good  wheat  soils,  yet  it 
often  does  better  on  soils  too  light  and  mucky  for 
wheat.  It  is  a  gross  feeder.  We  can  easily  make 
land  too  rich  for  wheat,  but  I  have  never  yet  seen 
any  too  rich  for  the  production  of  Indian  corn." 

The  fertility  of  soils  is  determined  chiefly  by  the 
amount  of  available  plant-food  contained  in  them. 
The  cereals,  and  nearly  all  cultivated  plants,  are  found 


THE   SOIL  AND  ITS   CONSTITUENTS.  103 

to  contain  more  or  less  potash,  soda,  lime,  magnesia, 
silica,  alumina,  oxide  of  iron,  oxide  of  manganese,  sul- 
phuric acid,  phosphoric  acid,  and  chlorine.  There 
are  three  other  substances,  iodine,  bromine,  and  fluo- 
rine, that  enter  into  the  composition  of  most  plants, 
but  in  proportions  so  minute  as  to  be  of  no  practical 
importance.  The  first-named  substances,  eleven  in 
number,  constitute  the  inorganic  parts  of  a  plant,  or 
that  portion  which  it  derives  entirely  and  exclusively 
from  the  soil.  Hence  these  elements,  in  one  propor- 
tion or  another,  will  be  found  contained  in  every  well- 
conditioned  soil. 

There  is  evidently,  therefore,  in  corn-culture,  but 
one  proper  course  for  the  farmer  to  pursue.  It  de- 
volves upon  him  to  ascertain,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
what  proportion  of  the  constituents  of  maize  his  soil 
already  contains,  and  in  what  condition  these  con- 
stituents exist.  The  latter  point  is  especially  import- 
ant ;  for  whatever  be  the  quantity  of  them,  unless  they 
are  in  such  a  state  that  the  plant  can  appropriate 
them,  they  might  nearly  as  well  be  entirely  absent. 

On  this  subject  the  science  of  chemistry  will  enlight- 
en the  farmer  up  to  a  certain  point ;  beyond  that  he 
must  rely  upon  other  sources  of  information.  Chem- 
ical investigation  will  determine,  with  sufficient  accu- 
racy, the  elements  of  the  soil  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
elements  of  maize  on  the  other ;  and  a  comparison  of 
these  would  seem  to  indicate  precisely  what  ingre- 
dients are  yet  wanting  for  the  intended  crop.  But 
this  indication  is,  after  all,  not  entirely  reliable.  As 
the  constituents  of  plants  exist  in  the  soil  in  various 


104  INDIAN   CORN. 

conditions,  it  is  necessary  to  know,  not  merely  whether 
they  are  present,  but  whether,  also,  they  are  in  that 
peculiar  state  in  which  the  growing  plant  can  use  or 
appropriate  them.  This  condition  chemistry  has  not 
yet  been  able  to  discriminate  with  certainty.  It  may, 
indeed,  determine  very  correctly  what  proportion  of 
potash,  or  soda,  or  phosphoric  acid  is  contained  in  a 
cubic  foot  of  any  given  soil ;  but  what  the  cultivator 
needs  to  know  is,  how  much  of  these  substances  it 
contains  in  that  state,  that  will  enable  them  to  minister 
to  the  immediate  wants  of  the  plant. 

Nearly  all  soils  contain,  in  a  state  of  nature  (as 
elsewhere  remarked),  the  principal  elements  of  maize, 
in  greater  or  less  quantities,  and  some  of  these  ele- 
ments are  found  in  proportions  even  much  larger  than 
the  plant  requires ;  but  their  value  depends  entirely 
upon  their  state  of  adaptation.  If,  from  their  peculiar 
combinations  or  other  causes,  they  are  impervious  to 
the  descending  rains,  and  unfitted  to  the  requirements 
of  vegetation,  they  add  nothing  to  the  present  fertility 
of  the  soil.  There  are  fertilizing  elements  in  the  ha»rd 
impracticable  rock,  and  the  chemist  can  doubtless  de- 
termine the  proportions  of  them ;  but  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  the  rock  or  any  part  of  it  is  at  present  an 
available  soil  for  the  growth  of  plants.  The  analysis 
that  reveals  the  relative  quantities  of  plant-elements, 
leaves  the  quality  and  fitness  of  them  still  obscure  and 
uncertain. 

If  the  chemist  could  indeed  resolve  the  soil  into  its 
elements,  with  an  absolute  precision  and  certainty  as 


THE  SOIL  ASTD  ITS  CONSTITUENTS.  105 

• 

to  the  condition  of  each ;  if,  while  he  tells  the  farmer 
exactly  what  proportion  of  each  constituent  of  corn  is 
lodged  in  every  square  foot  of  soil,  he  could  also  tell 
him,  with  the  same  accuracy  and  certainty,  what  part 
of  that  proportion  is  perfectly  adapted  to  the  imme- 
diate use  of  the  gro'uoing  plant,  the  effect  would  be 
most  remarkable.  Fertilization  would  be  reduced  to 
an  exact  science,  and  agriculture  would  be  revolu- 
tionized. 

But  though  chemistry,  that  has  done  so  much  for 
agriculture  and  for  the  other  useful  arts,  has  not  yet 
achieved  this  needed  revelation,  it  has  before  it  never- 
theless, like  other  sciences,  a  future  of  indefinite  pos- 
sibilities ;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the 
time  will  arrive  when  the  analysis  of  the  soil  will  be 
so  thorough  and  complete  as  to  disclose  to  the  culti- 
vator not  only  this  information,  but  all  else  in  this 
connection  that  he  needs  to  know. 

But  meantime  the  question  remains,  How  is  the 
farmer,  while  waiting  for  this  chemical  illumination, 
to  obtain  the  desired  information?  How  is  he  to 
know  what  amount  his  soil  contains,  and  what  amount 
it  lacks  of  the  available  elements  of  his  grain  ? 

The  answer  to  this  inquiry  is  plain  and  simple. 
There  is  just  one  method,  and  only  one,  of  arriving  at 
this  knowledge — consult  Nature.  Interrogate  the  soil 
in  a  series  of  experiments.  This  is  an  old  doctrine, 
but  a  very  sound  one,  and  no  less  true  to-day  than  it 
was  in  the  time  of  Lord  Bacon.  The  testimony  of 
Nature  can  always  be  had,  and  is  always  more  valuable 
5* 


106  INDIAN   COBN. 

* 

than  any  other.  Put  your  soil  on  the  witness-stand. 
Subject  it  first  to  an  examination  direct,  and  then  to  a 
rigorous  cross-examination,  and  you  will  compel  it  to 
disclose  those  reluctant  secrets  that  chemistry  has  not 
yet  arrived  at. 


PRACTICAL  MODE  OF  TESTING  THE  SOIL. 

IN  order  to  determine  what  manures  are  best 
adapted  to  a  given  soil,  there  is  no  method  more  cer- 
tain and  successful  than  to  institute  a  series  of  trials 
or  experiments,  which,  if  well  devised  and  rightly 
conducted,  will  enable  the  farmer  to  understand  the 
wants  of  his  land,  so  as  to  proceed  intelligently  in  sup- 
plying them.  These  trials  may  be,  for  the  most  part, 
accomplished  in  one  season,  but  require  for  the  best 
and  the  most  assured  results  a  longer  period.  The 
most  important  experiments  may  be  consummated, 
and  the  most  essential  information  acquired  in  a  single 
year ;  while  other  results  may  be  added,  and  those  of 
the  first  season  verified  or  corrected,  by  trials  contin- 
ued through  a  series  of  subsequent  years. 

The  farmer  who  is  accustomed  to  experimenting 
on  a  limited  scale,  with  reference  to  but  one,  or  a  few 
points  of  inquiry,  does  not  perhaps  realize  how  greatly 
the  results  may  be  enlarged,  with  but  little  extra  labor. 
By  introducing  additional  elements  into  the  investiga- 
tion, and  by  properly  combining  them,  the  effects  may 


108  INDIAN   CORN. 

be  multiplied  in  a  ratio  equally  surprising  and  profit- 
able. 

If,  for  example,  he  plants  a  portion  of  his  corn- 
field without  any  manure  whatever,  and  then  adds 
separately  to  other  successive  portions  of  the  same 
field  the  various  fertilizers  in  general  use,  that  are 
known  to  contain  one  or  more  of  the  elements  of 
maize,  he  performs  a  very  usual  and  doubtless  an  in- 
structive experiment,  and  the  greater  the  number  and 
variety  of  fertilizers  employed,  the  larger  will  be  the 
stock  of  information  acquired. 

But  this,  however  useful,  is  still  a  limited  and  par- 
tial investigation.  The  experiment  may  easily  be  ex- 
tended, so  as  to  render  it  much  more  comprehensive 
and  valuable.  Let  us  suppose  the  fertilizers  he  has 
selected  to  be  ten  in  number.  Then,  by  applying  each 
of  these  in  three  different  and  distinct  quantities,  the 
number  of  effects  will  be  materially  augmented,  and 
the  knowledge  acquired  will  be  greater  in  amount,  as 
well  as  more  accurate  and  more  valuable.  He  will 
not  only  discover  which  are  the  best  manures  to  ap- 
ply, but  will  also  obtain  some  useful  hints  as  to  the 
proportion  of  each  required. 

Again,  he  may  still  further  extend  and  vary  this  in- 
vestigation, by  applying  the  several  fertilizers  in  three 
different  modes,  viz. :  1,  by  ploughing  them  into  the 
ground  before  planting ;  2,  by  placing  them  in  the 
hill  or  drill  at  the  time  of  planting ;  and  3,  by  com- 
bining these  two  methods  into  one.  This  would  again 
multiply  the  whole  number  of  results,  and  greatly  in- 
crease the  total  sum  of  acquired  knowledge.  If  the 


PRACTICAL   MODE   OF   TESTING  THE   SOIL.  109 

number  of  fertilizers,  which  is  assumed  to  be  ten,  be 
multiplied  by  three,  and  that  product  bj  three  again, 
it  will  show  how  many  points  of  information  would 
arise  from  such  a  combination  of  experiments. 

To  make  this  clearer,  we  will  suppose  that  he  ap- 
propriates to  each  fertilizer  several  rows  through 
the  field,  amounting  to  two  square  rods  of  ground ; 
making,  when  the  fertilizers  are  all  applied,  twenty 
square  rods.  He  next  applies,  on  the  adjoining  twenty 
rods,  the  same  fertilizers  in  larger  proportions ;  and 
again,  on  a  similar  section,  the  same  fertilizers  once 
more  in  still  larger  quantities.  He  now  has  sixty  rods 
planted,  and  thirty  different  conditions  of  manure. 
Thus  far,  however,  the  applications  have  all  been 
made  in  one  way  only.  The  manures  have  been 
ploughed  into  the  soil  before  planting.  On  the  next 
sixty  rods,  therefore,  he  duplicates  the  amount  already 
planted,  making  no  change,  except  that  the  manures 
are  now  applied  in  the  drill.  Finally,  he  plants  a 
third  section  of  sixty  rods,  in  the  same  manner  as  be- 
fore, with  the  exception  that  the  fertilizers  are  applied 
differently,  by  combining  the  two  previous  methods 
into  one.  He  now  has  his  corn  growing  under  ninety 
different  conditions  of  fertilization,  on  one  hundred 
and  eighty  rods,  or  a  fraction  over  one  acre. 

In  whatever  way  these  experiments  may  each  one 
terminate,  if  they  have  been  rightly  performed,  his 
object  is  gained.  The  results,  it  is  true,  may  not  all 
be  equally  definite  and  certain ;  this  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected. Yet  he  derives  some  hint,  or  information, 
more  or  less  plain  and  positive,  from  each  separate 


110  INDIAN   CORN. 

application,  while  in  many  instances  the  instruction 
is  clear  and  unmistakable  as  language  can  make  it. 

Some  of  the  fertilizers  employed  will  perhaps  add 
nothing  to  the  yield ;  showing  that  the  constituents  of 
corn  contained  in  them  were  already  present  in  the 
soil  in  suitable  amount  and  condition.  Others  will 
add  to  the  product  in  various  proportions ;  some  of 
them  increasing  the  yield  probably  fifty  per  cent,  or 
more  as  compared  with  the  product  on  the  unmanured 
ground. 

A  careful  comparison  of  all  the  results,  and  of 
the  ratio  they  bear  to  that  of  the  unfertilized  sec- 
tion of  his  field,  will  teach  him  which  of  all  the  fer- 
tilizers employed  contain  those  precise  elements  of 
corn  that  were  either  absent  from  the  soil,  or,  if  pres- 
ent, were  deficient  in  quantity  or  availability. 

Before  this  trial  was  made,  he  did  not  know,  and 
could  not  have  predicted,  the  precise  effect  in  any  one 
instance  out  of  ninety.  He  now  has,  if  the  experi- 
ments have  been  carefully  and  accurately  executed, 
an  intelligible  result  for  each  condition.  With  proper 
caution  in  making  his  deductions,  he  may  derive  from 
this  experimental  crop  an  amount  of  instruction  and 
practical  knowledge  that  could  not  have  been  ob- 
tained from  any  other  source. 

Even  though  some  of  the  results  should  appear 
doubtful,  and  some  of  his  deductions  prove  erroneous, 
there  would  still  be  a  clear  and  decided  preponder- 
ance of  positive  and  reliable  information  that  would 
pay  him  many  times  over  for  the  extra  time  and 
labor  it  has  cost  him. 


PRACTICAL  MODE  OF  TESTING  THE   SOIL.          Ill 

He  may  not  have  achieved  a  very  remarkable 
crop,  as  to  the  aggregate  number  of  bushels,  but  he 
has  accomplished  a  more  important  object.  He  has 
not  been  aiming  at  a  large  present  yield.  He  has 
merely  been  laying  the  foundation  for  many  boun- 
tiful and  remunerating  crops  during  many  years  to 
come.  Still  the  chances  of  a  large  product  are  all 
in  his  favor,  even  for  the  current  year. 

It  is  not  only  probable,  but  nearly  certain,  that, 
while  he  has  been  solving  questions  of  permanent 
importance  to  his  farm  and  to  his  future  crops,  he 
has  at  the  same  time  obtained  more  than  an  aver- 
age yield.  While  gathering  an  ample  harvest  of  corn, 
he  has  gathered  along  with  it  a  still  more  ample  har- 
vest of  valuable  information. 

The  trial  crop  here  described,  and  the  experiments 
embraced  in  it,  are  suggested,  as  one  out  of  many 
plans,  that  will  doubtless  occur  to  the  mind  of  the 
practical  farmer.  Those  who  find  the  subject  of  suffi- 
cient interest,  will  very  likely  be  able  to  improve  upon 
these  hints.  But  the  one  essential  idea  that  the  au- 
thor desires  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  farming 
reader  is,  that  the  system  here  illustrated  is  capable 
of  great  expansion,  and  of  an  infinite  variety  in  its 
application. 

Single  and  isolated  experiments,  however  useful 
in  themselves,  give  no  adequate  idea  of  the  increased 
effect  that  may  be  produced  by  a  series  of  them, 
when  ingeniously  combined  and  accurately  performed. 
In  the  hands  of  a  skilful  cultivator,  a  true  method 
or  system  of  experiments  may  become  an  invaluable 


112  INDIAN  CORN. 

instrument  of  knowledge  and  of  power;  for  there 
is  scarcely  any  kind  or  degree  of  needed  information 
which  it  may  not  be  made  to  develop,  and  few 
practical  problems  in  agriculture  which  it  will  not 
help  to  solve. 


J^J  UK  A  ;<  v 

TJN1VKKSITY   OF 

CAIJFORN1A. 

PEEPAEATIOK  OF  THE  SOIL. 

Lsr  preparing  the  ground  for  corn,  the  subject  re- 
quiring the  farmer's  earliest  and  most  careful  atten- 
tion is  disintegration.  To  impart  to  the  soil,  before 
planting,  a  suitable  tilth  and  mellowness,  by  mechani- 
cal processes,  is  an  indispensable  preliminary.  The 
means  of  doing  this,  and  the  methods  practised,  are 
various,  and  of  different  degrees  of  merit ;  but  the 
amount  of  disintegration  they  are  capable  of  impart- 
ing is  the  great  and  leading  consideration.  The  in- 
strument, or  the  practice  that  will  most  completely 
effect  the  pulverization  of  the  soil,  carrying  the  sub- 
division of  its  particles  nearest  to  the  point  of  ulti- 
mate possibility,  is  the  one  to  be  adopted  by  the  cul- 
tivator. 

In  every  branch  of  husbandry,  yet  in  none  per- 
haps so  much  as  in  corn  culture,  the  thorough  re- 
duction of  the  earth  by  mechanical  division  and 
subdivision  is  a  matter  of  primary  and  fundamental 
importance. 

There  are,  it  is  true,  exceptional  cases  requiring  a 


114  INDIAN   CORN. 

different  treatment,  but  deep,  thorough,  and  repeated 
ploughing  is  the  great  general  rule,  and  the  exceptions 
are  comparatively  few. 

Land  that  is  naturally  sandy  and  porous,  with 
a  subsoil  of  like  structure,  rendering  it  incapable  of 
retaining  manure,  requires,  of  course,  another  meth- 
od. It  demands,  in  fact,  not  so  much  a  different 
mode  of  culture,  as  an  entire  change  in  its  con- 
dition. A  liberal  addition  of  clay,  ashes,  and  marl 
of  the  right  kind,  either  or  all  in  due  proportions,  fol- 
lowed with  stable-manure  and  green  crops  ploughed 
under,  would  in  time  reconstruct  such  a  soil,  and 
would  probably  pay  well  for  the  process.  But  apart 
from  such  instances  as  this,  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  ad- 
vise a  more  frequent,  careful,  and  accurate  use  of  the 
plough  than  that  commonly  practised. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  soil  intended  for  corn  is 
naturally  wet,  with  a  subsoil  impermeable  to  water,  it 
must  be  under-drained.  This  treatment  is  simply  a 
matter  of  necessity,  and  cannot  be  superseded  by  any 
other.  Even  in  most  of  the  ordinary  soils,  it  is  the 
opinion  of  many  farmers  that  under-draining  pays 
well  in  the  long  run.  But,  in  such  a  case  as  the  one 
under  consideration,  it  is  not  merely  advantageous,  it 
is  indispensable ;  and  to  attempt  to  raise  corn,  or  any 
other  important  crop  without  it,  is  a  criminal  waste 
of  time  and  labor. 

The  Working  Farmer,  for  May,  1861,  has  some 
useful  suggestions  for  the  treatment  of  the  ground  in 
corn  culture.  In  reference  to  the  first  breaking  up  of 
the  soil,  the  writer  remarks  : 


PEEPAEATION  OF  THE   SOIL.  115 

u  This  should  be  performed  by  running  the  surface 
plough  to  full  depth,  and  following  with  a  lifting  sub- 
soil plough,  the  latter  propelled  by  a  separate  team, 
with  its  beam  in  the  bottom  of  the  furrow  left  by  the 
surface  plough,  and  not  skating  along  the  surface, 
merely  scratching  or  slightly  disturbing  the  bottom  of 
the  furrow.  This  lifting,  subsoil  plough  not  only 
under-cuts  the  land  side  so  as  to  enable  the  next  fur- 
row-slice to  break  off  more  deeply  and  pulverize  more 
completely,  but  at  the  same  time  it  lifts  the  previously 
turned  furrow-slice  for  a  short  distance,  perfectly  dis- 
integrating its  particles;  for  the  resolution  of  its 
forces  being  upward  and  outward,  renders  all  the 
soil  above  it,  like  that  above  the  mole-track,  perfectly 
divided." 

Nearly  all  the  large  crops  we  have  any  account  of, 
have  been  produced,  to  a  large  extent,  by  thorough 
tillage.  Manures  are  doubtless  highly  useful,,and  have 
their  share  in  producing  results.  But  it  is  tillage, 
beyond  any  doubt,  that  gives  to  fertilizers  their  great- 
est value  and  effect. 

The  true  philosophy  of  thoroughly  aerating  the 
soil,  so  that  it  may  not  merely  admit,  but  invite,  the 
approach  of  air  and  water  to  the  growing  roots,  is  suf- 
ficiently shown  in  the  fact,  that  the  chemical  elements 
of  water  and  of  air  constitute  ninety  per  cent,  or  more 
of  nearly  all  growing  plants. 

In  addition  to  this,  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  the  plant-food  already  in  the  soil,  as  well  as 
that  applied  by  the  farmer,  depends  upon  the  action 


116  INDIAN   CORN. 

of  these  same  agents  for  its  availability  and  nutri- 
tive effect.  Of  all  the  fertilizing  elements  con- 
tained in  the  earth,  or  added  to  it,  there  is  not  one 
that  can  produce  its  proper  and  legitimate  result  in 
supplying  food  to  the  growing  plants  without  the  pres- 
ence and  influence  of  either  air,  or  water,  or  of  both 
combined. 

These  facts  are  well  understood,  and  clearly  indi- 
cate the  necessity  of  facilitating,  by  every  possible 
means,  the  access  of  descending  rains  and  of  atmos- 
pheric influence  to  the  roots  of  growing  corn.  But  in 
order  to  accomplish  this,  the  earth  must  be  brought 
to  a  proper  condition  before  the  grain  is  planted. 
The  soil  must  be  made  mellow  and  porous,  by 
deep  and  searching  processes  of  pulverization  often 
repeated. 

It  cannot,  then,  be  too  frequently  or  forcibly  sug- 
gested to  the  agriculturist  that,  the  more  he  contrib- 
utes to  break  up,  crush,  grind,  triturate,  and  subdivide 
the  particles  of  the  soil,  before  planting,  so  much  more 
does  he  cooperate  with  Nature,  and  assist  her  generous 
efforts  to  return  him  a  liberal  yield. 

In  thus  dwelling,  with  some  repetition,  upon  what 
is  deemed  an  important  subject,  we  may  perhaps  weary 
the  patience,  or  provoke  the  severity,  of  some  critical 
reader  ;  yet  such  is  the  consequence  of  this  principle, 
and  such  the  extent  of  its  influence,  that  if  we  could 
thereby  impress  it  more  effectively  on  the  minds  of  our 
cultivators,  we  would  not  hesitate  to  employ  yet  a 
dozen  more  terms  to  express  the  same  idea,  did  the 


PEEPAEATION  OF  THE   SOIL.  117 

language  contain  them  ;  for  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that,  if  a  more  thorough  system  of  tillage  were  prac- 
tised by  every  one  of  our  four  million  farmers,  it  would 
add  to  the  corn-crop  of  this  country,  in  a  single  season, 
many  million  bushels. 


LI  BE  A  !|1: 

rXIVKi;si  ,   V    u 

CALIFORNIA 


MA1STUEES. 

THERE  is  no  grain  crop  in  this  country  that  so  well 
remunerates  the  cultivator  for  a  liberal  application  of 
manure  as  Indian  corn.  Although  it  is  capable  of  a 
fair  and  sometimes  even  a  generous  yield  on  indiffer- 
ent or  unmanured  soils,  it  is  but  short-sighted  econo- 
my, on  the  part  of  the  husbandman,  to  take  advantage 
of  this  fact,  by  attempting  to  raise  it  without  enriching 
the  land.  If  the  object  of  the  agriculturist  is  to  get 
the  largest  possible  return  for  the  manure  applied  to 
his  ground,  he  will  effect  it  more  certainly  by  a  gen- 
erous allowance  to  the  maize  crop  than  in  any  other 
way. 

The  fertilizing  materials  that  may  be  usefully  ap- 
plied to  the  cornfield  are  so  numerous,  so  various, 
and  many  of  them  so  readily  procured,  that  no  cul- 
tivator is  justifiable  in  neglecting  to  apply  them  on  a 
liberal  scale. 

The  standard  manure  for  Indian  corn,  as  well  as 
for  other  crops,  is  undoubtedly  that  of  the  farm-yard 
and  the  stall.  Nature  has  ordained  that  domestic 
animals,  which  consume  so  largely  the  products  of  the 
earth,  shall  in  some  measure  compensate  the  proprie- 


MANURES.  119 

tor,  by  supplying  him  with  the  best  and  surest  means 
of  restoring  its  fertility.  Yet  this  supply  is  not  alone 
sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  the  soil,  and  the 
farmer  finds  it  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  other 
sources,  which  are  fortunately  neither  few  nor  inac- 
cessible. 

After  exhausting  the  contents  of  the  cattle-yard 
and  the  compost  heap,  or,  what  is  perhaps  still  better, 
in  connection  with  these,  he  may  employ,  and  often 
with  great  advantage,  some  of  the  various  fertilizers 
in  the  market.  In  doing  so,  however,  great  caution 
is  needed  to  avoid  the  impositions  continually  prac- 
tised by  the  venders  of  worthless  ad  alterations.  There 
are  several  of  the  commercial  manures  composed  of 
such  articles  as  nearly  all  farmers  either  have  or  can 
readily  and  cheaply  procure ;  and  many  have  adopted 
the  habit  of  preparing  these  on  their  own  premises. 
There  is  no  good  reason  why  this  practice  should  not 
be  universal.  The  man  who  uses  fertilizers  prepared 
by  himself  is  always  sure  of  their  quality,  and  will 
generally  find  them  less  expensive. 

The  following  enumeration  embraces  most  of  the 
fertilizing  materials  in  general  use  for  the  corn  crop 
as  well  as  some  that  are  not  usually  employed,  though 
they  might  be,  in  many  cases,  with  advantage  : 

1.  The  manure  of  the  FARM-YARD,  comprising  the 
excrement,  solid  and  liquid,  of  horses,  cattle,  and 
other  stock,  and  also  the  decomposed  vegetable  mat- 
ter combined  with  them.  The  latter  includes  straw, 
weeds,  leaf-mould,  swamp-muck,  and  every  variety 
of  vegetable  substance,  which,  if  well  managed,  will 


120  INDIAN  CORN. 

not  only  largely  increase  the  aggregate  amount,  but 
will  be  fully  equal  in  value  to  the  best  animal 
manure. 

2.  POUDRETTE,  or  the  various  preparations  of  night- 
soil.     This  is  a  highly  concentrated  and  valuable  fer- 
tilizer.    The  simplest,  and  perhaps  the  best  mode  of 
preparing  it,  is  to  combine  with  the  night-soil  a  lib- 
eral proportion  of  dry  mould,  charcoal-powder,  or 
sulphate  of  lime  (gypsum).     These  may  all  three  be 
added  with  excellent  effect.     Home-made  poudrette, 
when  rightly  prepared,  is  much  superior  to  the  com- 
mercial article. 

3.  The  various  GUANOS,  of  which  the  Peruvian  is 
by  far  the  best.    The  powerful  nature  of  this  fertilizer 
requires  caution  in  the  use  of  it.     In  solution  it  is 
found  useful  for  steeping,  and  is  also  applied  as  a 
liquid  manure. 

4r.  BONE-DUST. — The  value  of  this  fertilizer,  for  im- 
mediate use,  depends  in  a  great  measure  on  its  being 
finely  ground.  By  the  usual  mode  of  grinding  it,  the 
effect,  though  more  lasting,  is  comparatively  slight  the 
first  season.  The  Flour  of  Bone  is  a  finer  preparation 
than  the  other,  and  though  more  costly,  is  far  better 
for  immediate  effect. 

5.  SUPER-PHOSPHATE  OF  LIME,  or  vitriolized  bones. 
The  immediate  value  of  bone-dust  is  increased,  and 
the  effect  rendered  much  more  speedy,  by  converting 
it  into  super-phosphate  of  lime.  This  is  done  by  add- 
ing to  the  ground  bones  from  one-half  to  one-third 
of  their  weight  of  sulphuric  acid  (according  to  the 
strength  and  purity  of  the  acid),  with  a  like  quantity 


MANURES.  121 

of  water.  But  an  equal  effect  may  be  obtained,  at  a 
less  cost,  by  decomposing  ground  bones  with  green 
manure  or  swamp-muck. 

6.  WOOD  ASHES,  leached  and    unleached.     The 
former,  though  less  valuable,  still  retain  most  of  the 
constituents  of  the  unleached,  having  lost  only  a  por- 
tion of  their  soda  and  potash.     In  either  form,  ashes 
are  a  most  useful  fertilizer,  and  adapted  to  nearly 
every  description  of  soil. 

7.  PLASTER,  or  sulphate  of  lime.    Plaster  is  the 
name  given  to  ground  gypsum.     It  is  generally  bene- 
ficial to  corn,  and  sometimes  in  a  remarkable  degree ; 
its  effect  depending  very  much  on  the  character  of  the 
soil. 

8.  LIME,  oxide  of  calcium.     That  obtained  from 
burnt  shells  is  by  many  considered  superior  to  any 
other.    The  best  results  from  the  use  of  lime  are  found 
in  soils  that  abound  in  vegetable  matter.     This  mate- 
rial is  found  to  be  much  better  applied  in  small  quan- 
tities, occasionally  repeated,  than  in  large  quantities 
at  one  time. 

9.  SALT,  chloride  of  sodium.     There  is  much  dif- 
ference of  opinion  in  regard  to  this  fertilizer,  but 
there  are  doubtless  soils  on  which  it  is  useful.     It  has 
a  tendency  to  check  the  growth  of  weeds,  and  its 
effect  on  grain  is  to  increase  the  solidity  and  weight. 

10.  LIME  AND  SALT  MIXTURE. — This  may  be  pre- 
pared by  adding  two  parts  of  lime  to  one  of  common 
salt,  or  by  slacking  the  lime  with  a  saturated  solution 
of  salt.     The  preparation  should  be  made  several 
months  before  usin  g. 

6 


122  INDIAN   COEN. 

11.  NITRATE  OF  POTASH,  saltpetre.     The  effect  of 
this  fertilizer  has  been  found  in  some  instances  quite 
remarkable ;  but  like  most  other  manures,  it  varies 
with  the  soil.     It  makes  an  excellent  solution  for 
steeping. 

12.  NITRATE  OF  SODA. — For  soils  deficient  in  soda, 
this  application  can  hardly  fail  to  be  useful.      It  is 
sometimes  applied  in  connection  with  the  sulphate  of 
soda,  with  an  increased  effect. 

13.  SULPHATE  OF  AMMONIA.  ) 

14.  PHOSPHATE  "          j    All  growing  plants 
require  ammonia,  and  what  they  do  not  obtain  from 
the  atmosphere  by  the  agency  of  descending  rains, 
must  be  derived  from  the  soil,  or  from  the  manures 
applied  to  it.     Hence  any  fertilizers  containing  this 
principle  may  be  applied  to  Indian  corn  with  un- 
doubted advantage. 

15.  PHOSPHATE  OF  MAGNESIA  AND  AMMONIA. — 
This  compound  is  highly  commended  by  Professor 
Johnston  for  its   marked  effect  upon  Indian   corn. 
He  cites  a  case  in  which  three  hundred  pounds  per 
acre  increased  the  crop  of  grain  six  times  and  the 
stover  three  times.      "It  is  prepared   by  pouring 
mixed  solutions  of  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  sulphate 
of  ammonia  into  a  solution  of  the  common  phosphate 
of  soda." 

All  of  the  above  fertilizers  contain  a  greater  or 
less  amount  of  the  constituents  of  maize,  and  are 
therefore  adapted  to  that  crop,  though  in  different 
degrees.  Which  of  them  may  be  used  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage in  a  given  case,  or  how  many  of  them,  or  in 


MANURES.  123 

what  proportions,  are  questions  to  be  determined 
chiefly  by  the  character  of  the  soil. 

If  the  farmer  has  ascertained  the  requirements  of 
his  soil ;  if  he  has  determined,  either  by  experimental 
processes,  or  otherwise,  in  what  constituents  of  maize 
it  is  deficient,  he  is  then  prepared  to  apply  his  fer- 
tilizers with  intelligence  and  effect,  and  so  far  as  it 
depends  upon  the  mere  presence  of  enriching  material 
in  the  earth,  he  will  easily  be  able  to  bring  his  land 
up  to  any  capacity  of  yield  he  may  choose,  being  only 
limited  by  the  expense. 

He  will,  however,  discover  that  the  mere  presence 
of  manures  is  not  all  that  is  required,  even  though 
they  contain  the  precise  ingredients  that  are  lacking 
in  the  soil.  The  condition  in  which  they  are  applied 
has  no  small  influence  on  the  effect  they  are  capable 
of  producing.  If  they  are  in  a  hard,  concrete,  undi- 
vided mass,  they  should  be  pulverized.  If  they  are 
not,  indeed,  already  in  a  state  of  minute  subdivision, 
they  should  be  brought  to  that  condition  before  ap- 
plying them.  Some  of  the  saline  fertilizers  are  pro- 
cured in  a  state  of  powder,  others  in  hard  lumps  that 
need  to  be  finely  crushed  or  dissolved. 

But  the  manure  requiring  most  attention  in  this 
respect  is  that  of  the  farm-yard.  It  is  not  a  little 
remarkable  that  in  the  very  case  where  the  process 
of  reduction  and  disintegration  is  most  of  all  needed, 
it  seems  to  be  most  neglected.  The  contents  of  the 
stalls  and  of  the  compost  heap,  which,  from  the  variety 
of  materials  they  comprise,  need  to  be  elaborately 
worked  over  and  subdivided,  in  order  to  be  thoroughly 


124:  INDIAN  COEN. 

intermingled,  are  yet  frequently  carted  upon  the  land 
in  rude  lumps  and  unbroken  masses  that  strangely 
contrast  with  the  fine  roots  and  fibres  through  whose 
minute  mouths  they  have  yet  to  enter  before  they  can 
nourish  the  growing  corn. 

"  Few  farmers,"  says  the  editor  of  the  Agricul- 
turist, "  comprehend  the  importance  of  attending  to 
this  item  in  the  preparation  of  their  stock  of  fertilizers. 
They  are  often  carried  to  the  field  in  the  spring,  in 
the  coarsest  form  possible,  the  hay  and  straw  not  fer- 
mented at  all,  and  the  coarse  clods  carried  in  to  the 
yard  last  summer,  not  broken.  They  are  spread  in 
this  state,  and  the  large  lumps  are  ploughed  under  so 
that  they  are  not  immediately  available  for  the  suste- 
nance of  plants.  Plants  feed  mainly  at  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  rootlets,  through  mouths  too  small  to  be 
seen  by  the  naked  eye.  The  finer  the  manure  is  made, 
the  more  easily  it  is  dissolved  in  water,  and  the  sooner 
it  passes  into  the  circulation." 

The  cultivator  who  intends  to  secure  a  maximum 
crop,  or  even  a  tolerably  liberal  and  paying  yield,  will 
find  it  necessary  to  attend  to  his  fertilizers,  whatever 
may  be  the  kinds  employed,  and  to  reduce  them  to  a 
suitable  degree  of  fineness  before  applying  them  to 
his  soil. 

But,  in  order  to  secure  to  the  growing  plant  the 
full  and  legitimate  effect  of  the  manure  applied,  there 
is  still  another  condition  remaining  to  be  complied 
with.  The  fertilizer  and  the  soil  require  to  be  intimately 
blended.  It  is  not  enough  that  they  are,  each  of  them, 
completely  and  thoroughly  pulverized ;  they  must 


MANURES.  125 

also  be,  and  with  equal  thoroughness,  intermingled. 
The  particles  of  manure  must  be  effectually  and  uni- 
formly distributed  among  the  particles  of  the  soil. 

Prof.  Way,  in  a  lecture  before  the  Eoyal  Agricul- 
tural Society  of  England,  finely  illustrated  the  rela- 
tions of  the  soil  to  the  plant  that  grows  in  it,  by  com- 
paring the  former  to  the  stomach  of  an  animal,  ob- 
serving that  Nature  had  given  to  the  soil  the  function 
or  office  which  in  animals  is  performed  by  the  gas- 
tric juice  and  the  chyle — that  of  preparing  and  di- 
gesting the  food  of  plants.  Nothing  can  show  plainer 
than  this  analogy  the  importance  of  incorporating  fer- 
tilizers with  the  soil. 


LI  n  k  \  ,  , 

UNIVKJISITV    UK 

<'AUF<mxiA. 


PLANTING. 

HAVING  selected  his  seed-corn  with  discriminating 
care,  having  prepared  it  by  steeping  for  an  early  and 
vigorous  start,  having  given  it  a  moderate  coating  of 
tar  to  shield  it  from  its  earliest  enemies,  and  finally, 
having  imparted  to  his  soil  the  requisite  degree  of 
mellowness  and  fertility,  the  farmer  is  now  prepared 
to  commit  his  seed  to  the  earth. 

But  here  again  he  is  confronted  by  problems  pecu- 
liar to  the  soil,  and  for  the  solution  of  which  he  must 
rely  mainly  upon  his  own  investigations.  Before  de- 
positing his  seed  in  the  earth,  it  is  needful  to  determine 
the  proper  depth  for  planting,  and  the  proper  intervals 
of  space.  These  are  points  that  depend  materially  upon 
the  variety  of  corn,  the  character  of  the  soil,  and  the 
manner  of  treating  it.  There  is,  therefore,  no  fixed  or 
uniform  rule  on  the  subject.  The  depth  for  planting 
varies  from  one  inch  to  two  or  three.  In  a  very  heavy 
soil,  the  former  would  perhaps  be  sufficient ;  in  a  very 
light  soil,  the  latter  would  scarcely  be  too  deep.  But 
the  proper  distance  between  the  grains  is  subject  to 
still  wider  latitude,  and  is  even  more  dependent  upon 
varying  circumstances. 


PLAOTINQ. 


The  best  advice,  then,  that  can  be  given  to  the 
cultivator  in  this  case,  as  in  a  previous  one,  is  to  carry 
his  inquiries  directly  to  the  soil,  and  obtain  his  an- 
swers there.  All  the  information  necessary  for  his 
purpose,  in  regard  to  these  points,  he  can  obtain  in  a 
single  season,  by  a  series  of  well-managed  experi- 
ments. 

There  are  two  modes  of  distributing  the  grain  in 
planting,  in  regard  to  which  agriculturists  are  divided 
in  opinion  and  practice,  some  maintaining  that  plant- 
ing in  hills  is  most  successful,  while  others  are  equally 
strenuous  in  favor  of  drills.  The  preponderance  of 
opinion,  however,  is  in  favor  of  the  latter  method. 
Our  own  experience  is  entirely  in  favor  of  drills,  which 
seems  to  be  the  mode  of  planting  that  will  secure  the 
largest  product.  Still  this  point,  like  most  others  in 
husbandry,  is  one  that  every  farmer  can  determine 
for  himself.  But  let  him  adopt  which  he  may  of  these 
methods,  the  same  question  of  spaces  remains  to  be 
solved. 

This  investigation  is  somewhat  complicated,  and 
resolves  itself  into  two  inquiries  : 

1st.  What  is  the  average  distance  between  the 
grains,  or,  in  other  words,  what  is  the  area  of  soil  to 
each  grain,  that  will  give  the  largest  yield  per  acre  ? 
Now,  when  this  is  determined,  it  will  be  found  that 
there  are  various  modes  of  distribution  that  will  give 
the  same  area  to  each  grain,  and  yet  no  two  of  these 
would  probably  give  the  same  result  per  acre.  For 
instance,  suppose  it  were  ascertained  that  three  square 
feet  of  ground  to  each  grain  would  give  a  larger  yield 


128  INDIAN  CORN. 

than  any  other  area.  'Now  a  distribution  of  hills, 
three  feet  apart,  with  three  grains  in  the  hill,  would 
satisfy  this  condition.  So  also  an  arrangement  of 
drills  three  feet  asunder,  with  stalks  twelve  inches 
apart  in  the  drill,  would  equally  fulfil  the  condition. 
But  the  product  per  acre  of  these  two  methods  would 
not  be  the  same.  Here,  then,  arises  the  other  in- 
quiry: 

2d.  "With  a  given  area  to  each  grain,  what  is  the 
arrangement  or  distribution  of  the  grains  that  will 
give  the  largest  product  per  acre  ? 

This  problem  deserves  the  attention  of  every  agri- 
culturist, for  it  determines,  as  elsewhere  stated,  the 
limit  of  possible  yield.  The  solution  of  it  can  un- 
doubtedly be  unfolded  by  the  method  of  experiments, 
if  they  are  well  planned  and  carefully  executed. 

The  intelligent  and  thoughtful  farmer  understands 
that,  as  there  are  many  modes  of  distributing  the 
grain  in  planting,  he  cannot  expect  to  adopt  the  best, 
without  knowing  which  it  is,  and  this  he  cannot  know 
without  making  a  trial.  He  therefore  determines  to 
vary  his  modes  of  planting,  remembering  that  the 
greater  the  number  of  plans  he  tries  the  more  certain 
he  will  be  of  finding  out  the  best.  Accordingly,  he 
plants  a  part  of  his  field  in  hills,  and  part  in  drills. 
The  former  he  places  at  different  distances  asunder, 
varying  at  the  same  time  the  number  of  grains  in 
each.  The  drills  are  in  like  manner  placed  at  differ- 
ent distances,  and  the  intervals  between  the  grains  are 
also  varied.  In  all  this  there  is  no  great  intricacy  and 
no  real  difficulty.  He  thus  examines,  with  but  little 


PLANTING.  129 

extra  trouble,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  different  ar- 
rangements for  planting ;  and  as  all  these  trials  are 
introduced  into  Ms  regular  crop,  they  involve  no 
interruption  of  his  general  plan.  If,  now,  he  should 
find  that  some  one  or  more  of  these  methods  give 
him  a  yield  of  eighty  or  ninety  bushels  per  acre, 
while  the  plan  he  is  accustomed  to  has  seldom  given 
over  sixty  bushels,  he  would  be  very  likely  to  open 
his  eyes  to  the  value  of  such  experiments. 

But  there  is  one  essential  thing  to  be  observed  and 
remembered.  The  more  closely  the  grains  are  planted 
the  more  the  soil  is  to  be  enriched,  and  the  more 
thoroughly  and  deeply  must  it  be  tilled.  It  is  also  to 
be  observed  that  the  small  varieties  admit  of  closer 
planting  than  the  large. 

To  guide  the  cultivator  in  pursuing  the  investiga- 
tion of  this  subject,  the  table  given  on  pages  130  and 
131  may  be  of  some  service.  It  exhibits  twenty-one 
different  arrangements  for  planting,  with  three  several 
results  for  each  per  acre.  These  results  are  given  in 
bushels,*  omitting  fractions. 

The  average  weight  of  shelled  corn  per  ear  is 
about  five  ounces.  In  the  table,  therefore,  three 
ounces  are  taken  as  the  estimate  for  a  small  ear,  five 
ounces  for  one  of  medium  size,  and  seven  ounces  for  a 
large  ear.  The  fifth  column  indicates  the  yield,  sup- 
posing the  stalks  to  contain,  on  an  average,  but  three 
ounces  of  corn  each ;  the  sixth  column  gives  the  yield 
for  five  ounces,  and  the  last  column  for  seven  ounces. 

*  The  bushel  is  taken  at  56  Ibs.,  that  being  the  legal  weight  in  most 
of  the  States. 


130 


INDIAN   COEN. 


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PLANTING. 


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132  INDIAN  CORN. 

The  mode  of  spacing  given  in  the  second  and 
eighth  lines  of  the  above  table,  allowing  but  one 
square  foot  of  soil  for  each  stalk,  is  introduced  here 
for  the  purpose  of  comparison  only,  and  not  with  a 
view  of  being  attempted  in  practice. 

In  the  first  and  ninth  lines,  also,  the  arrangement 
is  too  much  crowded  for  general  field  culture,  but  may 
be  well  enough  introduced  in  a  series  of  trials ;  though 
the  ninth  method  is,  in  fact,  the  same  as  that  practised 
by  Major  Williams,  of  Kentucky,  who  succeeded  in 
getting  one  hundred  and  sixty  bushels  per  acre,  which 
is  only  ten  bushels  short  of  the  maximum  result  given 
in  the  table  for  that  method. 

The  mode  of  distribution  given  in  the  seventh  and 
twenty-first  lines  will  probably  yield  the  largest  ears, 
but  not  as  large  an  aggregate  product  as  some  of  the 
others. 

A  few  of  the  results  in  the  above  table  are  such  as 
no  practical  agriculturist  would  expect,  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge,  to  be  able  to  arrive  at.  What 
may  be  hereafter  accomplished,  when  the  genius  of 
our  farmers  shall  have  introduced  and  perfected  new, 
and  at  present  unknown,  varieties  of  corn,  and  when 
science  and  skill  shall  have  more  fully  developed  the 
higher  possibilities  of  the  experimental  system,  it 
would  be  difficult  now  to  say.  But,  in  a  soil  favored 
by  nature,  and  rightly  improved,  there  is,  we  think, 
no  impossibility  in  obtaining  any  of  the  results  of  the 
foregoing  table,  with  the  exception  of  those  given  in 
the  first,  second,  and  eighth  lines,  and,  in  the  last  col- 
umn, of  the  tenth  and  seventeenth  lines. 


PLANTING.  133 

~No  man  can  tell  what  his  own  particular  soil  is 
capable  of,  or  can  be  made  capable  of,  until  he  has 
proved  it.  The  cultivator  who  has  always  pursued 
one  invariable  method,  without  trying  or  examining 
any  other,  can  never  be  sure  that  his  own  method  is 
the  best,  or  that  it  is  anywhere  near  the  best,  or  that 
it  is  even  comparatively  a  good  one.  He  may  have 
been  unconsciously  planting  his  corn  for  years  upon 
a  wrong  principle,  which  a  few  simple  experiments 
would  have  long  since  corrected.  It  is  quite  possi- 
ble that  he  has  been  losing  some  ten  or  fifteen  bushels 
of  corn  per  acre  annually,  for  years,  only  for  the  want 
of  a  little  more  knowledge,  which  might  have  been 
acquired  with  a  little  more  trouble. 

In  order  to  determine  this  point,  let  him  submit 
his  method  to  a  rigorous  investigation.  Let  him  com- 
pare it  with  other  methods,  in  various  and  repeated 
trials.  Let  him  put  himself  in  communication  with 
Nature,  and  in  a  series  of  careful  and  patient  manip- 
ulations, he  will  be  able  to  draw  out  from  the  bosom 
of  the  earth  a  generous  revelation  of  the  laws  that 
regulate  her  hidden  treasures.  By  a  system  of  ex- 
periments well  framed  and  faithfully  carried  through, 
he  will  be  able  to  pour  a  flood  of  light  into  his 
soil  that  will  disclose  unsuspected  mines  of  cereal 
wealth. 

In  regard  to  the  other  details  of  planting,  they  are 
few  and  simple.  Great  precision  is  necessary  in  mark- 
ing out  the  rows,  to  have  them  as  regular  and  straight 
as  possible,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  after-culture.  It 


134:  INDIAN  CORN. 

is  the  practice  of  some  farmers,  and  well  worthy  of 
general  adoption,  to  use  the  subsoil  plough  in  striking 
out  th  e  furrows.  "  From  the  peculiarity  of  this  plough," 
says  Prof.  Mapes,  "  the  soil  will  be  left  in  a  much 
more  divided  condition  than  by  the  simple  ploughings 
alone,  besides  the  fact  that  this  fresh  disintegration 
gives  strange  germinating  power  to  the  soil  in  which 
the  seed  is  now  to  be  introduced.  This  lifting  sub- 
soil plough  will  affect  the  soil  at  the  surface  for  one  foot 
each  side  of  its  line  of  travel,  so  that  the  after-culture 
between  the  rows  need  not  approach  so  nearly  to  the 
corn." 

It  is  a  good  rule  in  planting  maize  to  put  more 
grain  into  the  ground  than  is  intended  to  remain.  It 
provides  against  casualties,  and  can  be  thinned  out 
at  the  second  hoeing.  It  has  also  this  advantage,  that 
it  enables  the  cultivator,  at  the  time  of  thinning,  to 
make  a  selection.  There  is  often  at  that  stage  of 
growth  a  marked  difference  in  the  plants ;  and  it  is 
an  important  point  gained  when  the  stalks  are  so 
abundant  that  all  the  small  and  inferior  ones  can  be 
rejected,  and  still  leave  an  ample  supply  of  large, 
healthy,  and  vigorous  plants.  This  certainly  increases 
the  chance  for  a  good  crop,  and  seems  entitled  to  more 
attention  than  it  has  usually  received. 

Another  point  connected  with  planting,  and  too 
important  to  be  overlooked,  is  the  uniform  covering 
of  the  seed.  If  this  is  not  properly  attended  to,  there 
can  be  no  uniformity  of  depth,  nor  equality  of  growth. 
In  planting  by  hand,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  accom- 
plish this  object.  A  variety  of  planting  implements, 


PLAINING.  135 

of  more  or  less  merit,  have  been  introduced  within  a 
few  years,  and  no  good  farmer  should  be  without 
one.  In  drill-planting,  this  implement  is  still  more 
indispensable  than  for  planting  in  hills,  and  very 
speedily  reimburses  the  outlay  in  the  saving  of  time 
and  the  superior  accuracy  of  the  work. 


AFTER-CULTUKE. 

IF  the  ground  intended  for  corn  has  been  prepared 
before  planting,  in  the  thorough  manner  indicated  in 
a  previous  chapter,  the  labor  of  after-culture  is  thereby 
diminished.  The  more  mellow  and  porous  the  con- 
dition of  the  soil  at  the  time  the  grain  is  put  into  it, 
and  especially  if  it  has  been  deeply  disintegrated  by 
the  subsoil  plough,  the  less  deeply  and  frequently  will 
it  require  to  be  disturbed  during  the  growth  of  the 
plant.  A  certain  amount  of  tillage  is,  of  course,  in- 
dispensable to  keep  down  the  weeds,  and  to  facilitate 
the  access  of  air  and  water  to  the  roots.  But  the  true 
theory  of  after-culture  is  doubtless  to  keep  the  earth 
that  surrounds  and  covers  the  roots  of  the  plant  as 
open,  and  loose,  and  porous  as  possible,  without,  at 
the  same  time,  doing  violence  to  the  roots. 

Hence  it  is  obvious,  that  if  the  soil  is  brought 
completely  into  this  condition  at  or  before  the  com- 
mencement of  germination,  it  will  not  require  the 
same  amount  of  disturbance  afterwards,  with  the  plough 
and  other  implements,  that  it  must  necessarily  demand 
in  those  cases  where  the  roots,  and  stems,  and  minute 


AFTER-CULTURE.  137 

fibres  are  compelled  from  the  start  to  struggle  through 
a  hard,  compact,  and  neglected  soil.  All  the  tillage, 
however,  that  can  be  given  with  safety,  and  all  that 
the  earth  really  needs,  in  order  to  keep  it  aerated,  and 
to  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds,  it  must  have. 

There  is  no  greater  enemy  to  the  maize-crop  than 
weeds ;  and  it  is  even  doubted  by  some  whether  all  the 
other  enemies  of  this  cereal  combined  accomplish  so 
great  an  amount  of  mischief  as  these  spontaneous  and 
all-pervading  pests  of  husbandry.  They  are  sometimes 
kept  out  of  the  cornfield  by  precautionary  measures, 
if  these  are  early  adopted ;  but  this  cannot  always  be 
effected  with  certainty.  There  are  certain  fertilizers 
that  have  a  favorable  tendency  in  this  direction,  and 
especially  common  salt,  which,  on  some  lands,  produces 
the  twofold  effect  of  increasing  the  crop  and  check- 
ing the  growth  of  weeds.  But  when,  in  spite  of  all 
the  precautions  that  can  be  employed,  these  plagues 
and  persecutors  of  the  soil  obtrude  themselves  into 
the  cornfield,  they  must  be  dealt  with  promptly,  at 
whatever  sacrifice.  They  must  be  extirpated  at  once, 
even  if  it  is  done  at  the  risk  of  some  damage  to  the 
roots  of  the  grain.  The  growing  corn  can  better  afford 
to  encounter  the  possible  loss  of  some  portion  of  its 
roots,  than  to  endure  the  presence  of  these  greedy 
interlopers,  that  swarm  into  the  field,  only  to  rob  the 
soil  of  its  nutriment,  and  to  exclude  from  it  the  genial 
sunlight. 

The  germs  from  which  this  infinite  variety  of 
weeds  annually  and  spontaneously  springs,  are  not  the 
product  of  a  single  season,  but  doubtless  the  gradual 


138  INDIAH  CORN. 

accumulation  of  many  years.  Hence  the  farmer's  only 
certain  and  final  delivery  from  them  is  in  the  constant 
and  complete  extinction  of  them  every  season,  before 
they  go  to  seed,  for  a  series  of  years,  until  the  last 
lingering  germ  is  developed  and  destroyed. 

It  is  thought  by  some  that  a  certain  amount  of 
root-pruning  is  no  disadvantage  to  corn,  but  rather  a 
benefit ;  and  that,  consequently,  the  plough  cannot  be 
too  much  or  too  often  used  in  after-culture.  ISTow  it 
is  not,  perhaps,  impossible  that  root-pruning  may  be, 
to  some  extent,  an  advantage,  though  the  weight  of 
opinion  is  clearly  against  it ;  but,  supposing  it  to  be 
in  some  degree  necessary,  this  scarcely  justifies  the 
excessive  use  of  the  plough  after  germination  has  com- 
menced. If  root-pruning  be  at  all,  or  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, salutary,  it  can  only  be  so  within  certain 
limits,  and  when  performed  with  judgment  and  care. 
But  the  action  of  the  plough  is  necessarily  violent  and 
indiscriminate,  rending  with  fatal  energy  whatever 
resists  its  progress.  The  very  qualities  that  give  to 
it  its  greatest  value,  would  in  this  case  impart  the 
greatest  mischief.  When  rightly  used,  it  is  an  instru- 
ment powerful  for  good.  But  when  driven  among 
the  rows  of  young  and  tender  corn,  in  the  capacity  of 
root-pruner,  it  becomes  an  agent  of  destruction. 

The  horse-hoe  and  the  cultivator  are  less  objec- 
tionable than  the  plough ;  but  after  the  corn  is  well  up 
and  under  good  headway,  with  its  roots  ramifying  the 
soil  in  every  direction,  even  these  implements  are 
more  or  less  perilous,  and  should  be  employed  with 
the  utmost  caution.  Even  while  the  sprouting  grain 


AFTEE-CTJLTUEE.  139 

is  scarcely  yet  four  inches  above  the  earth,  its  indus- 
trious roots  have  already  radiated  to  an  amazing 
length,  and  some  of  them  have  doubtless  crossed  the 
track  of  the  plough. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some  agriculturists,  that  a 
hand-cultivator  might  be  so  contrived  as  to  accom- 
plish all  that  is  needed  in  the  after-culture  of  corn. 
The  common  garden  cultivator  is  said  to  have  been 
used  in  some  cases  with  entire  success,  where  the  soil 
had  been  rendered  extremely  mellow  before  planting. 
If  some  ingenious  modification  of  the  hand-cultivator 
should  be  found  adequate  to  all  the  requirements  of 
after-culture,  it  would  indeed  be  a  great  gain  to  the 
cornfield,  provided  the  labor  of  propelling  it  were 
not  so  great  as  to  form  a  serious  objection. 

It  is  certainly  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  an 
implement,  combining  the  merits  of  the  horse-hoe  and 
garden  cultivator,  might  be  constructed  on  a  scale  of 
size  fitting  it  for  hand  use,  that  would  answer  every 
needful  purpose  for  after-culture,  in  all  cases  where  the 
soil  is  deeply  and  sufficiently  pulverized  before  planting. 
E"or  is  there  any  good  reason  why  it  might  not  be  so 
contrived  as  to  do  the  work  of  the  hand-hoe  also. 
Such  an  instrument,  if  successful,  would  be  found 
equally  applicable  to  root-crops,  and  to  all  other 
plants  requiring  after-culture.  One  great  advantage 
of  this  invention  in  corn-husbandry  would  be,  to  per- 
mit the  small  and  prolific  varieties  of  corn,  such  as 
the  Browne,  to  be  planted  in  closer  drills  than  the 
horse-hoe  allows,  thus  enabling  them  to  reach  a 
higher  yield  per  acre  than  they  can  in  any  other  way. 


140  INDIAN   CORN. 

One  man,  by  this  invention,  would  do  the  work  of  a 
man  and  horse,  and  do  it  more  accurately,  and  with 
less  destruction ;  nor  need  it  be  any  more  laborious, 
with  a  well-made  instrument,  and  in  well-prepared 
ground,  than  the  twofold  operation  of  driving  the 
horse  and  properly  managing  the  implement  he  draws. 

The  useless  habit  of  piling  up  the  earth  in  cone- 
shaped  hills  around  the  stalks  of  corn,  which  was 
at  one  time  almost  universal,  is  now  generally  dis- 
approved and  wisely  abandoned.  It  was  formerly 
supposed  to  aid  the  stalk  in  resisting  the  effect  of 
severe  gales,  but  experience  has  proved  this  to  be  a 
mistaken  notion.  There  was  also  an  imagined  ad- 
vantage in  drawing  up  the  earth  around  the  roots ; 
but  here  again  experience  has  developed  the  sounder 
philosophy  of  allowing  the  roots  to  find  the  earth,  as 
they  require  it,  by  their  own  spontaneous  movement. 
This  they  will  be  sure  to  do;  and  they  will  find  the 
manure  also,  provided  both  manure  and  soil  have 
been  sufficiently  pulverized  and  blended. 

The  editor  of  the  Cultivator,  as  quoted  by  Emer- 
son, in  his  Encyclopaedia,  has  given  the  following  opin- 
ion, as  to  the  practice  of  hilling  corn,  and  also  as  to 
the  use  of  the  plough  in  after-culture : 

"  All  or  nearly  all  the  accounts  we  have  published 
of  great  products  of  Indian  corn,  agree  in  two  partic- 
ulars, viz. :  in  not  using  the  plough  in  the  after-culture, 
and  in  not  earthing,  or  but  slightly,  the  hills.  These 
results  go  to  demonstrate  that  the  entire  roots  are 
essential  to  the  vigor  of  the  crop,  and  that  roots,  to 
enable  them  to  perform  their  function  as  Nature  de- 


AFTER-CULTUEE.  141 

signed,  must  be  near  the  surface.  If  the  roots  are 
severed  with  the  plough,  in  dressing  the  crop,  the 
plants  are  deprived  of  a  portion  of  their  nourishment ; 
and  if  they  are  buried  deep  by  hilling,  the  plant  is 
partially  exhausted  in  throwing  out  a  new  set  near 
the  surface,  where  alone  they  can  perform  all  their 
offices." 


HABVESTING  ART)  STOKING. 

THE  mode  of  harvesting  the  corn  crop  differs  in 
different  sections  of  the  country.  In  most  of  the 
Northern  States  the  general  practice  is  to  cut  it  near 
the  ground,  when  the  grain  is  sufficiently  glazed,  and 
before  the  stalks  begin  to  wither.  It  is  highly  im- 
portant to  determine  the  right  stage  of  maturity  for 
cutting,  and  requires  nice  discrimination  as  well  as 
experience.  The  weight  and  quality  of  both  grain 
and  stover  depend  materially  on  seasonable  harvest- 
ing. After  the  corn  is  cut  and  stooked,  it  is  usually 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  field  until  sufficiently  dry  for 
husking,  after  which  the  grain  is  conveyed  to  the  crib, 
and  the  stalks  are  either  stored  in  the  barn  or  stacked 
near  the  cattle  yard  for  provender.  In  all  cases  where 
the  stover  is  not  stored  under  cover,  it  should  be 
stacked  with  great  care,  to  secure  it  from  being  in- 
jured by  the  weather. 

In  many  of  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  a 
different  and  more  prodigal  mode  of  harvesting  is 
practised.  The  corn  is  there  first  topped,  by  cutting 
the  stalks  above  the  ears,  while  the  latter  are  left  until 


HARVESTING  AND  STOEING.  14:3 

fully  ripened,  after  which  they  are  husked  on  the 
ground,  and  carried  to  the  crib.  Cattle  are  then 
turned  into  the  field  to  consume  what  remains  of  the 
stover.  This  practice  is  inexcusably  wasteful,  and 
those  who  adopt  it  can  hardly  expect  to  find  their 
corn  crop  a  source  of  much  profit. 

"  The  stalks  of  corn,"  says  Mr.  Allen,  in  the 
American  Farm  Book,  "  ought  never  to  be  cut  above 
the  ear,  but  always  near  the  ground,  and  for  this  ob- 
vious reason:  the  sap  which  nourishes  the  grain  is 
drawn  from  the  earth,  and  passing  through  the  stem, 
enters  the  leaf,  where  a  change  is  effected,  analogous 
to  what  takes  place  in  the  blood,  when  brought  to  the 
surface  of  the  lungs  in  the  animal  system ;  but  with 
this  peculiar  difference,  however,  that  while  the  blood 
gives  out  carbon  and  absorbs  oxygen,  plants,  under 
the  influence  of  light  and  heat,  give  out  oxygen  and 
absorb  carbon.  This  change  prepares  the  sap  for 
condensation  and  conversion  into  the  grain.  But  the 
leaves  which  thus  digest  the  food  for  the  grain  are 
above  it,  and  it  is  while  passing  downward  that  the 
change  of  the  sap  into  grain  principally  takes  place. 
If  the  stalks  be  cut  above  the  ear,  nourishment  is  at 
an  end.  It  may  then  become  firm  and  dry,  but  it 
will  not  increase  in  quantity,  while  if  cut  near  the 
root,  it  not  only  appropriates  the  sap  already  in  the 
plant,  but  it  also  absorbs  additional  matter  from  the 
atmosphere,  which  contributes  to  its  weight  and  per- 
fection." 

Many  experiments  have  been  made  on  this  subject, 
all  tending  to  the  same  result,  and  showing  that  there 


144  INDIAN  CORN. 

is  a  gain  of  from  five  to  ten  bushels  per  acre  in  the 
amount  of  grain,  by  cutting  the  corn  near  the  ground. 
In  a  trial  made  by  Mr.  Clarke,  of  Northampton,  Mas- 
sachusetts, an  acre  of  topped  corn  was  found  to  have 
lost  between  six  and  eight  bushels  of  grain  by  the 
process. 

But  in  addition  to  the  loss  of  grain  from  this  prac- 
tice, there  is  a  further  loss  in  the  stalk,  which,  if  cut 
at  the  right  season,  and  cured  with  care,  forms  an  ex- 
cellent article  of  fodder.  The  most  enlightened  cul- 
tivators, whose  experience  in  the  best  mode  of  using 
this  provender  has  taught  them  how  to  appreciate  it, 
are  invariably  careful  in  securing  the  whole  of  their 
stalk  crop,  and  would  no  sooner  leave  a  portion  of  it 
standing  in  the  field  than  they  would  abandon  a  sim- 
ilar amount  of  any  other  crop  they  raise.  They  would 
regard  every  ton  of  stover  thus  relinquished  as  a  need- 
less sacrifice,  equivalent  in  amount  of  loss  to  the 
abandonment  of  so  much  hay.  ISTo  sane  man  would 
think,  for  a  moment,  of  gathering  his  timothy  or  clover 
by  this  "topping"  process ;  nor  is  there  any  sufficient 
reason  why  he  should  leave  the  half  of  his  stalk  crop 
to  perish  in  the  field. 

The  usual  argument  in  defence  of  this  practice, 
that  the  stalks  thus  relinquished  are  not  lost  but  con- 
sumed by  cattle  turned  subsequently  into  the  field  for 
the  purpose,  can  have  but  little  force  with  any  man 
who  has  seen  the  experiment  tried.  The  class  of  farm- 
ers who  adopt  this  improvident  course  and  justify  it  by 
this  kind  of  reasoning,  when  advised  to  cut  their  corn- 
fodder  before  feeding,  invariably  reply  that  there  is  no 


HARVESTING  AND   STORING.  145 

nse  in  it;  and  that  cattle  will  never  half  consume 
them,  even  when  they  are  cut ;  thus,  unconsciously, 
condemning  their  own  practice.  They  gather  the 
small  ends  and  tender  portions  of  the  stover,  and 
tell  us  that  even  these,  when  cut,  are  but  partially 
and  reluctantly  eaten,  and  yet  imagine  the  same 
cattle  that  turn  from  these  with  indifference,  will 
go  into  a  field  of  unharvested  butt-ends  and  devour 
them. 

Neither  of  the  positions  here  taken  is  tenable. 
They  not  only  contradict  each  other,  but  they  equally 
conflict  with  the  facts  of  general  experience,  and  with 
the  dictates  of  common  sense.  No  domestic  animal 
will  eat  the  large  ends  of  corn-stover,  as  they  stand 
in  the  field,  blanched  and  withered  by  the  elements, 
while  all  kinds  of  cattle  will  not  only  readily  eat  them, 
but  thrive  and  fatten  on  them,  when  they  have  been 
seasonably  harvested,  well  cured,  and  properly  pre- 
pared for  feeding  by  such  process  as  every  good  farmer 
understands. 

STORING. — The  ordinary  method  of  preserving  corn 
is  to  deposit  it  before  shelling  in  long  and  narrow 
granaries,  or  cribs,  the  sides  of  which,  and  sometimes 
the  ends,  are  constructed  with  laths  or  other  narrow 
strips,  so  arranged  as  to  leave  spaces  of  an  inch  or 
more  between,  for  the  purpose  of  ventilation.  The 
corn-crib  should  never  be  made  more  than  nine  or  ten 
feet  wide.  If  this  width  is  exceeded,  the  grain  at  the 
centre  is  exposed  to  the  risk  of  damage  by  heating. 
In  all  cases  where  greater  width  is  necessary  or  de- 
sirable, it  is  a  wise  precaution,  and  perhaps  a  suffi- 
7 


146  INDIAN   COKN. 

cient  protection  to  the  grain,  to  ventilate  the  crib 
through  the  centre  of  the  flooring. 

FOE  MEASURING  COBN,  either  shelled  or  in  the  ear, 
the  following  rule  is  given  in  the  American  Farmer^ 
Encylopmdia :  "  Having  previously  levelled  the  corn 
in  the  house,  so  that  it  will  be  of  equal  depth  through- 
out, ascertain  the  length,  breadth,  and  depth  of  the 
bulk ;  multiply  these  dimensions  together,  and  their 
product  by  four;  then  cut  off  one  figure  from  the 
right  of  this  last  product.  This  will  give  so  many 
bushels  and  a  decimal  of  a  bushel  of  shelled  corn.  If 
it  be  required  to  find  the  quantity  of  ear  corn,  sub- 
stitute eight  for  four,  and  cut  off  one  figure  as 
before." 


ENEMIES  OF    COEK 

THE  maize  crop,  in  its  liability  to  the  depredations 
of  enemies,  shares  the  common  fate  of  the  vegetable 
world.  It  is,  however,  in  this  respect,  more  fortunate 
than  most  kinds  of  grain  and  fruit.  Its  foes,  though 
possibly  as  numerous,  are  far  less  fatal  than  those  in- 
festing the  wheat  crop,  and  some  other  vegetable  prod- 
ucts. 

In  a  general  survey  of  the  combined  results  of  dis- 
ease and  hostile  ravages,  it  must  be  admitted  that  this 
cereal  has  escaped  serious  calamity  in  a  remarkable 
degree.  From  disease  it  is  so  nearly  exempt  as  to  be 
considered  virtually  untouched.  It  has,  indeed,  for- 
midable enemies,  but  most  of  their  attacks  can,  by 
seasonable  measures,  be  either  mitigated  or  prevented. 
The  corn  crop  has,  also,  this  further  advantage — that 
the  most  serious  inroads  upon  it  occur  at  that  stage 
of  the  growth  while  it  is  not  yet  too  late  to  replant. 

The  most  common  and  familiar  enemies  of  the 
corn  crop  are  crows,  blackbirds,  squirrels,  mice,  and 
insects ;  the  last  named  being  entirely  the  most  nu- 
merous, dangerous,  and  difficult  to  guard  against. 

The  attacks  of  birds,  mice,  and  squirrels  can  be,  in 


14:8  INDIAN   COEN. 

a  great  measure,  prevented,  or  rendered  harmless,  by 
steeping  the  grain  before  planting  (as  elsewhere  de- 
scribed) in  a  pungent  or  distasteful  solution,  and  still 
more  effectually  by  coating  it  thinly  over  with  tar. 

But  the  insect  tribes  are  more  formidable,  and  not 
so  easily  repelled.  In  order  to  deal  with  them  success- 
fully, it  is  necessary  to  understand  their  habits,  and  to 
anticipate  their  approach  with  well-timed  vigilance. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  insects  most  fre- 
quently encountered  by  corn  either  in  the  field  or  the 
crib :  the  cut- worm,  the  white  grub,  the  wire-worm, 
the  spindle-worm,  the  aphis  mayis,  the  Angoumois 
moth,  the  chinch-bug,  and  the  weevil. 

The  CUT- WORM  is  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of 
the  corn  crop,  to  which,  however,  its  ravages  are  not 
by  any  means  confined.  It  is  an  equally  well-known 
and  destructive  pest  of  the  vegetable  garden.  In  the 
daytime  it  remains  concealed  in  the  earth,  and  during 
the  night  commits  its  ravages,  completely  severing  the 
stem  of  the  young  and  tender  plant,  near  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  This  insect  is  of  several  species,  which 
are  the  offspring  of  moths  or  millers  belonging  to  the 
agrotidian  group.  One  of  the  most  familiar  of  these 
is  the  gothic  dart-moth,  which,  in  midsummer  even- 
ings, makes  itself  unpleasantly  sociable  around  the 
lighted  lamp.  The  cut-worm,  when  its  full  size  is  at- 
tained, measures  from  one  to  two  inches  in  length, 
the  color  being  of  various  shades  of  gray,  with  the 
head  of  a  brown  or  orange  hue. 

The  WHITE  G-KUB,  though  often  -  confounded  with 
the  cut- worm,  differs  from  it  in  it£  habits,  as  well  as 


ENEMIES   OF   CORN.  149 

in  appearance  and  origin.  Its  ravages  are  confined  to 
the  roots  of  plants,  nor  is  it  ever  known,  like  the  lat- 
ter, to  attack  the  stalk  above  ground.  Various  other 
plants,  equally  with  maize,  are  subject  to  its  depreda- 
tions ;  the  grasses  being  sometimes  damaged  or  de- 
stroyed over  entire  fields,  in  its  devouring  progress. 
The  May-beetle,  sometimes  called  the  Dor-bug,  is  the 
parent  of  this  worm.  The  color  of  the  beetle  is  a 
chestnut-brown,  with  the  breast  inclining  to  yellow, 
and  in  length  it  sometimes  reaches  an  inch,  though 
usually  a  little  less.  The  grub,  as  its  name  implies,  is 
a  white  worm,  with  a  head  approaching  to  brown. 

The  WiKE-WoKM. — The  havoc  committed  by  this 
insect  is  also  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  ex- 
tends to  the  planted  seed  as  well  as  to  the  roots  that 
spring  from  it.  This  grub  is  the  offspring  of  the 
Elator,  or  Spring-beetle.  It  attacks,  with  but  little 
discrimination,  the  roots  of  most  herbaceous  plants 
within  its  reach,  to  some  of  which  it  is  often  very  de- 
structive. According  to  Mr.  Townsend  Glover,  the 
entomologist  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  "  the 
true  wire-worm  is  the  larva  of  a  species  of  elator;  or 
click-beetle,  commonly  known  by  the  trivial  name  of 
snapping-bug,  from  its  habit  of  being  able  to  throw 
itself  some  distance  in  the  air  with  a  sudden  click, 
when  laid  upon  its  back  ;  it  is  said  to  pass  five  years 
in  the  larva  or  feeding  state,  and  resembles  the  com- 
mon meal-worm,  the  body  being  cylindrical,  very 
tough,  of  a  yellowish  brown  color,  and  furnished  with 
a  distinct  head,  and  only  six  legs." 

The  SPINDLE-WORM  takes  its  name  from  its  destroy- 


150  INDIAN   COEN. 

ing  the  young  and  tender  spindle  of  the  maize.  Its 
ravages  usually  commence  at  an  early  stage  of  the 
growth  of  the  plant,  while  the  spindle  is  yet  but  little 
developed.  The  presence  of  this  miscreant  is  indicated 
by  the  withering  of  the  leaves,  which  may  be  taken 
hold  of  and  drawn  out  along  with  the  spindle.  A 
small  hole  may  be  detected  in  the  side  of  the  plant, 
near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  entering  into  the  centre 
of  the  stalk,  where  the  worm  will  be  found — a  small, 
yellowish  insect,  with  the  head  nearly  black.  The 
moth  produced  from  this  insect,  according  to  Dr.  Har- 
ris, differs  from  the  other  nonagrians  somewhat  in 
form,  itsforewings  being  shorter  and  more  rounded  at 
the  tip,  and  the  hind  wings  of  a  yellowish  gray.  The 
surest  way  to  check  the  ravages  of  these  insects  is  to 
destroy  them  in  the  caterpillar  state.  If  permitted  to 
turn  to  moths,  they  escape,  with  the  certainty  of  prop- 
agating another  brood. 

The  APHIS  MAYIS,  or  corn-plant  louse,  belongs  to 
an  exceedingly  numerous  tribe.  The  aphis,  of  one 
kind  or  another,  is  found  upon  almost  every  plant  in 
the  vegeteble  kingdom,  and  multiplies  with  a  rapidity 
truly  amazing.  So  prolific  are  they,  according  to 
Reaumur,  that  one  individual,  in  five  generations, 
may  become  the  progenitor  of  nearly  six  thousand 
million  descendants.  The  corn  aphis,  according  to 
Dr.  Harris,  is  found  mostly  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  deriving  its  nourishment  from  the  roots  of  the 
plant,  and  the  crop,  in  light  poor  soils,  is  liable  to 
suffer  seriously  from  this  cause.  These  insects,  small 
as  they  are,  might,  by  their  numbers,  become  truly 


ENEMIES  OF  CORN.  151 

formidable,  were  it  not  that  nature  has  placed  a  check 
upon  their  increase.  Other  insects,  the  enemies  of 
these,  destroy  and  devour  them. 

The  CHINCH  BUG  is  chiefly  and  primarily  known 
as  the  enemy  of  the  wheat  crop,  which,  in  the  "West- 
ern and  some  of  the  Southern  States,  it  invades  in 
numbers  equally  formidable  and  fatal.  The  chief 
peril  of  the  cornfield  from  this  gregarious  foe  seems 
to  occur  when  the  former  crop  is  too  limited  in  amount 
to  satisfy  its  rapacity,  or  has  been  placed  by  harvest- 
ing beyond  its  reach.  It  has  been  suggested  to  sow 
clover  along  with  wheat  and  other  small  grains,  which 
it  is  thought  would  have  the  effect  of  detaining  the 
insect  in  the  field,  after  the  grain  is  harvested,  long 
enough  to  save  the  neighboring  crops  from  its  ravages. 
Where  no  such  precaution  has  been  taken,  and  the 
wheat-field  has  been  exhausted  by  these  greedy  and 
pestilent  vermin,  if  there  is  no  other  cereal  at  hand 
but  maize,  and  the  latter  is  within  reach,  it  is  almost 
certain  to  be  attacked  and  destroyed,  unless  promptly 
defended  by  vigorous  measures. 

It  is  in  the  unripe  stages  of  wheat,  oats  and  corn, 
that  they  are  chiefly  liable  to  the  attacks  of  these 
bugs.  Mr.  O.  M.  Colver,  of  Cedar  County,  Iowa,  has 
given  an  interesting  account  of  this  insect  in  a  letter 
to  the  American  Institute  Farmer's  Club.  "  While 
feeding  on  the  rich  juices  of  the  wheat,"  he  remarks, 
"  from  the  time  it  blossoms  till  it  matures,  they  in- 
crease with  amazing  rapidity.  Often  whole  fields 
of  wheat,  which  only  show  a  few  small  spots  injured, 
are  entirely  killed  within  two  weeks.  Chinch  bugs 


152  INDIAN   COEN. 

breed  on  the  ground  (and  when  it  is  dry  many  of 
them  are  in  the  dust)  in  colonies,  sometimes  cov- 
ering one  or  two  square  feet  to  the  depth  of  half  an 
inch  or  an  inch  with  bugs  in  all  stages  of  develop- 
ment, from  the  tiny  red  insect  to  the  black  bug  and 
up  to  the  perfect  winged  insect.  They  commence 
killing  the  wheat  nearest  their  colony  first,  but  they 
soon  widen  to  feet,  rods,  and  acres.  The  small  white 
spots  of  dead  wheat  in  the  green  field  show  their 
whereabouts. 

"  They  take  their  meals  in  clear  hot  days  before  it 
gets  hot  in  the  morning  and  late  in  the  afternoon. 
They  are  mostly  at  home  in  the  colony  in  the  hottest 
•part  of  the  day,  or  gathered  under  sheaves  of  wheat 
from  the  heat.  Do  not  cut  wheat  before  it  is  ripe,  on 
account  of  the  bugs,  for  they  only  prevent  it  from 
maturing,  and  cutting  it  will  do  the  same.  They  are 
most  voracious  in  their  growing  state.  I  do  not  think 
they  breed  in  oats  or  corn.  So  far  as  I  have  ob- 
served, they  always  attack  oats  after  the  wheat  is  ripe 
or  killed  by  them,  from  the  side  next  to  the  wheat. 
When  they  go  from  one  field  to  another  they  do  not 
commence  in  spots,  but  sweep  all  as  they  go.  I  have 
never  seen  them  travel  forty  rods,  from  one  field  to 
another,  and  do  any  damage." 

The  chinch  bug  bears  some  resemblance  in  size,  as 
well  as  odor,  to  another  little  voracious  miscreant  that 
sometimes  invades  the  sleeping  chamber.  As  the 
former  insect  is  provided  with  wings,  it  is  fortunate 
for  the  human  family  that  it  is  not  at  the  same  time, 
like  the  latter,  sanguiniverous. 


ENEMIES   OF   COBN.  153 

The  ANGOUMOIS  MOTH. — This  insect  is  a  destructive 
enemy  to  other  grains  as  well  as  to  Indian  corn,  and 
sometimes  commits  fearful  ravages  on  wheat,  oats,  and. 
barley.  It  was  introduced  from  France  into  this 
country  many  years  ago,  and  is  mostly  confined  to 
the  Southern  States,  being  unable  to  endure  the  cli- 
mate of  the  North.  It  is  only  upon  the  ripe  grain, 
says  Dr.  Asa  Fitch,*  that  this  moth  preys,  attacking 
it  in  the  field  before  harvest,  and  continuing  to  work 
upon  it  in  the  mow  and  the  out-door  stack,  but  being 
most  destructive  in  the  bins  of  granaries,  flouring 
mills,  and  storehouses.  The  eggs  are  laid  in  clusters 
upon  the  kernels  of  the  grain,  and  hatch  in  five  to 
seven  days.  The  worm  bores  into  the  kernel,  where 
it  remains  feeding  upon  the  flour,  until  only  the  hull 
is  left,  whereby  it  appears  to  the  eye  sound  and  unin- 
jured, but  on  being  pressed  is  found  to  be  soft,  and 
by  washing,  the  injured  kernels  are  separated. 

The  WEEVIL. — There  are  two  species  of  this  in- 
sect, to  the  attacks  of  which  Indian  corn  is  liable, 
viz. :  the  grain  weevil  and  the  rice  weevil.  Both  of 
these,  like  the  angoumois  moth,  extend  their  ravages 
to  the  other  cereals,  and  attack  only  the  ripened  grain, 
the  inside  of  which  they  consume,  leaving  the  hull 
entire.  "  In  the  Northern  States,"  says  Dr.  Fitch, 
"  they  are  mostly  confined  to  the  storehouses  in  our 
cities.  They  are  unknown  in  the  interior  of  the 
country,  except  as  they  have  been  received  in  seeds 


*  See  his  article  on  Insects,  in  the  Annual  Register  of  Rural  Af- 
fairs for  1853. 

7* 


154  INDIAN   CORN. 

distributed  by  the  Patent  Office,  which  have  very  fre- 
quently abounded  with  these  weevils,  often  to  the 
alarm  of  the  persons  who  have  received  them,  who 
have  been  fearful  a  new  insect  enemy  was  being  scat- 
tered over  our  land  hereby." 


L  1  i> 

CALIFORNIA. 


PEEYEISTTIYES  AED  KEMEDIES. 

MANY  and  various  have  been  the  means  resorted 
to  for  protecting  the  cornfield  against  the  innumera- 
ble hosts  of  its  insect  foes.  Some  of  these  have 
proved  quite  successful,  and  others  sufficiently  so  to 
encourage  further  efforts  in  the  same  direction.  It  is 
by  no  means  impossible  that  continued  investigations 
may  yet  teach  us  how  to  exclude  from  the  maize  crop 
the  most  dangerous  of  its  enemies. 

Steeping  the  seed  corn  before  planting,  as  recom- 
mended in  the  case  of  birds,  though  not  an  absolute 
protection  against  insects,  has  a  salutary  tendency  in 
two  ways.  It  is  said  to  repel  the  wire-worm  which 
usually  attacks  the  germinating  seed,  and  by  quicken- 
ing the  growth  of  the  plant,  places  it  sooner  beyond 
danger  from  the  attacks  of  other  enemies. 

Ploughing  up  sward-land  in  the  fall  is  attended 
with  advantage,  by  throwing  out  many  insects  from 
their  hidden  recesses  in  the  soil,  and  exposing  them 
to  be  devoured  by  birds,  or  destroyed  by  the  frosts  of 
winter. 

A  protection  against  the  cut-worm,  sometimes 


156  INDIAN   CORN. 

found  successful,  is  to  sprinkle  a  small  quantity  of  fine- 
cut  tobacco  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  closely 
around  the  plants. 

The  following  expedient  is  recommended  in  the 
Farmers'  Encyclopaedia :  "  A  pair  of  old  wheels  are 
to  be  fitted  with  projections  like  the  cogs  of  a  spur- 
wheel  in  a  mill,  which  must  be  so  formed  as  to  make 
holes  in  the  earth  four  inches  deep  during  the  turning 
of  the  wheel.  The  smooth  track  which  the  wheels 
make  on  the  soft  ground,  induces  the  worm,  in  its  noc- 
turnal wanderings,  to  follow  on  till  it  tumbles  into 
the  pit.  It  cannot  climb  out,  and  is  destroyed  by  the 
hot  sun." 

A  good  practice  to  prevent  the  propagation  of  this 
insect  is  to  make  bonfires  in  summer  evenings  when 
the  moth  begins  to  appear.  Multitudes  of  these  will 
swarm  into  the  fire  and  be  destroyed. 

For  the  wire- worm,  the  following  preventive  is 
recommended  by  the  American  Institute  Farmer's 
Club :  Take  of  plaster  and  wood  ashes  equal  parts, 
saturate  the  same  with  night  soil  from  the  privy  vault, 
haul  to  the  field  in  barrels,  and  drop  half  a  pint  in 
the  bottom  of  each  hill. 

An  expedient  practised  in  England  and  recom- 
mended here,  for  destroying  the  wire-worm,  consists 
in  burying  slices  of  potato  sufficiently  near  the  planted 
grain  to  attract  the  worm  from  it.  These  slices  are 
to  be  examined  daily,  and  the  larvae  thus  collected  to 
be  destroyed. 

It  is  said  that  sowing  a  crop  of  white  mustard 
seed  will  effectually  extirpate  the  wire-worm  from 


PREVENTIVES   AND  EEMEDIEB.  157 

the  soil.  Mr.  Tallant  reports  to  the  British  Farmers' 
Magazine,  that  he  has  freed  his  fields  entirely  from 
wire-worms  by  this  means. 

The  chinch  bug  is  only  to  be  headed  off  by  active 
and  vigorous  measures.  The  following  plan  is  re- 
ported to  the  Prairie  Farmer,  by  H.  B.  Norton,  of 
Ogle  County,  111. :  "  If  any  Western  rustics  are  ver- 
dant enough  to  suppose  that  chinch  bugs  cannot  be 
outflanked,  headed  off,  and  conquered,  they  are  en- 
tirely behind  the  times.  The  thing  has  been  effect- 
ually done  during  the  past  season,  by  Mr.  Davis, 
supervisor  of  the  town  of  Scott,  Ogle  County,  111. 
This  gentleman  had  a  cornfield  of  a  hundred  acres, 
growing  alongside  of  extensive  fields  of  small  grain. 
The  bugs  had  finished  up  the  latter  and  were  pre- 
paring to  attack  the  former,  when  the  owner,  being 
of  an  ingenious  turn,  hit  upon  a  happy  plan  for  cir- 
cumventing them.  He  surrounded  the  corn  with  a 
barrier  of  pine  boards,  set  up  edgewise  and  partly 
buried  in  the  ground,  to  keep  them  in  position.  Out- 
side of  this  fence  deep  holes  were  dug  about  ten  feet 
apart.  The  upper  edge  of  the  board  was  kept  con- 
stantly moist  with  a  coat  of  coal  tar,  which  was  re- 
newed every  day. 

"  The  bugs,  according  to  their  regular  tactics,  ad- 
vanced to  the  assault  in  solid  columns,  swarming  by 
millions  and  hiding  the  ground.  They  easily  ascended 
the  board,  but  were  unable  to  cross  the  belt  of  coal 
tar.  Sometimes  they  crowded  upon  one  another,  so 
as  to  bridge  over  the  barrier,  but  such  places  were 
immediately  covered  with  a  new  coating.  The  sue- 


158  INDIAN  CORN. 

cess  of  the  defence  was  complete.  The  invaders  crept 
backward  and  forward  until  they  tumbled  into  the 
deep  holes  aforesaid.  These  were  soon  filled,  and  the 
swarming  myriads  were  shovelled  out  of  them  liter- 
ally by  wagon  loads — at  the  rate  of  thirty  or  forty 
'bushels  a  dwy — and  buried  up  in  other  holes  dug  for 
the  purpose  as  required.  This  may  seem  incredible 
to  persons  unacquainted  with  this  little  pest,  but  no 
one  who  has  seen  the  countless  myriads  which  cover 
the  earth  as  harvest  approaches  will  feel  inclined  to 
dispute  the  statement.  It  is  an  unimpeachable  fact. 
The  process  was  repeated,  till  only  three  or  four  bush- 
els could  be  shovelled  out  of  the  holes,  when  it  was 
abandoned.  The  corn  was  completely  protected,  and 
yielded  bountifully." 

Broadcast  applications  to  the  land,  as  a  means  of 
protection  against  insects  in  general,  have  been  fre- 
quently tried,  and  various  substances  have  been  em- 
ployed for  the  purpose,  in  some  cases  with  very  con- 
siderable success.  But  the  results  of  all  such  trials 
are  necessarily  affected  by  a  variety  of  circumstances. 
Some  of  the  articles  most  employed  and  commended 
are  unleached  ashes,  lime,  soot,  nitrate  of  soda,  com- 
mon salt,  etc.  Many  farmers  have  found  advantage, 
as  mentioned  by  Mr.  Colman,  in  his  third  report,  by 
mixing  salt  with  their  stable-manure  before  applying 
the  latter  to  the  land. 

For  the  weevil  and  the  Angoumois  moth  the  best, 
and  perhaps  the  only  reliable  remedy,  is,  as  stated  by 
Dr.  Fitch,  to  subject  the  infested  grain  to  the  heat  of 
an  oven,  or  of  a  very  hot  room.  The  grain,  he  says, 


PREVENTIVES  AND  REMEDIES.  159 

may  be  heated  to  190°  of  Fahrenheit's  scale  without 
losing  its  germinating  power,  and  this  is  sufficient  to 
kill  all  the  insects  contained  in  it. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  in  all  this  ceaseless 
crusade  against  the  destructive  insect  tribes,  Nature 
is  ever  cooperating  with  man.  In  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence, some  races  of  the  animal  creation  are  appointed 
to  arrest  the  growth  and  progress  of  others ;  thus  lim- 
iting the  results  of  excessive  fecundity,  which,  if  not 
restrained,  would  soon  cause  the  earth  to  be  overrun 
and  monopolized  by  a  few  prolific  tribes  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  others.  Natural  history  everywhere  abounds 
with  curious  illustrations  of  this  marvellous  law,  by 
which  the  equilibrium  of  the  animal  -kingdom  is  stead- 
ily and  mysteriously  preserved. 

"  Many  of  the  almost  unheeded  insects,"  says  Levi 
Bartlett,  in  a  communication  to  the  Country  Gentle- 
man, "  that  flit  about  the  farmer's  feet,  as  he  traverses 
his  acres,  are  truly  his  friends  and  agents  in  destroy- 
ing other  species  that  are  so  injurious  to  his  crops. 
The  first  named  should  be  protected,  the  latter  should 
be  destroyed,  in  all  their  three-fold  stages,  as  far  as 
possible.  But  without  some  knowledge  of  the  science 
of  entomology,  no  one  can  discriminate,  to  any  great 
extent,  between  his  insect  friends  and  foes.  Most  of 
the  tiger-beetles  should  b'e  protected  by  the  farmer 
while  the  May-beetle,  and  others  of  his  like,  should  be 
crushed  beneath  the  foot,  even  if  it  should  'feel  a 
pang  as  great  as  when  a  giant  dies.' ': 

But  of  all  the  agents  that  cooperate  with   the 
farmer  in  his  warfare  upon  injurious  insects,  there  are 


160  INDIAN   CORN. 

none  that  render  a  more  important  service  than  birds. 
The  following  striking  illustration  of  this  is  given  in 
Anderson? s  Recreations : — "A  cautions  observer,  hav- 
ing found  a  nest  of  five  young  jays,  remarked  that 
each  of.  these  birds,  while  yet  very  young,  consumed 
fifteen  full-sized  grubs  in  one  day,  and  of  course  would 
require  many  more  of  a  smaller  size.  Say  that,  on  an 
average  of  sizes,  they  consumed  twenty  a  piece.  These 
for  the  five  make  one  hundred.  Each  of  the  parents 
consume3  say,  fifty,  so  that  the  pair  and  family  devour 
two  hundred  every  day.  This,  in  three  months, 
amounts  to  twenty  thousand  in  one  season.  But,  as 
the  grub  continues  in  that  state  four  seasons,  this  sin- 
gle pair,  with  their  family  alone,  without  reckoning 
their  descendants  after  the  first  year,  would  destroy 
eighty  thousand  grubs.  Let  us  suppose  that  the  half, 
namely,  forty  thousand,  are  females,  and  it  is  known 
that  they  usually  lay  about  two  hundred  eggs  each ;  it 
will  appear  that  no  less  than  eight  millions  have  been 
destroyed,  or  prevented  from  being  hatched,  by  the 
labors  of  a  single  family  of  jays.  It  is  by  reasoning 
in  this  way  that  we  learn  to  know  of  wHat  importance 
it  is  to  attend  to  the  economy  of  nature,  and  to  be 
cautious  how  we  derange  it  by  our  short-sighted  and 
futile  operations." 

How  plainly,  then,  is  it  the  interest  of  the  farmer 
to  attract  to  his  fields,  to  encourage  and  protect  the 
feathered  tribes,  of  every  name  and  kind,  and  to  wage 
uncompromising  war  against  all  who  persecute  them  ; 
for,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  there  are  those  who 
find  a  mysterious,  if  not  malignant  pleasure  in  slaying 


PREVENTIVES   AND   REMEDIES.  161 

these  merry  and  innocent  types  of  beauty.  If  there 
is,  on  earth,  one  miscreant  that  deserves  scourging 
more  than  another,  it  is  the  shameless  scamp  who  is 
so  often  seen  prowling  through  fields  and  woods,  with 
loaded  gun,  intent  on  the  destruction  of  these  harmless 
and  useful  friends  of  man,  that  aid  in  protecting  his 
cereal  treasures,  while  they  embellish  with  their  pres- 
ence his  groves  and  orchards,  and  fill  the  air  with  the 
music  of  their  artless  notes. 


DISEASES  OF  COBK 

IN  the  history  of  tins  plant  disease  is  scarcely 
known.  Occasionally  some  rnoYbid  indication,  as  a 
rust  on  the  leaves  or  stalk,  or  an  unnatural  secretion, 
is  witnessed ;  arising  probably  from  wounds  in  culti- 
vation, or  from  long-continued  extremes  of  weather; 
but  otherwise  its  history  is  marked  with  health  and 
vigor,  and  it  still  remains  untouched  with  any  serious 
malady.  The  contrast  in  this  respect  with  wheat 
and  most  other  grains  is  so  strikingly  in  favor  of  corn, 
as  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  the  exemption  of  the 
latter  is  purposely  ordered  by  a  beneficent  Providence. 

The  principal  disease  of  this  cereal  appears  in  the 
form  of  a  dark  spongy  growth,  sometimes  of  a  blue 
black  or  purple  tinge,  that  occasionally  shows  itself 
on  the  stalk  or  leaves,  but  is  more  apt  to  take  the 
place  of  the  blighted  ear.  This  substance  increases 
gradually  in  size,  sometimes  reaching  six  or  seven 
inches  in  diameter,  and  is  generally  regarded  as  a  rank 
and  luxuriant  species  of  fungus.  The  kind  of  para- 
sitic growth  to  which  this  fungus  belongs,  it  has  been 
found,  may  be  in  most  cases  effectually  destroyed  by 


DISEASES   OF  CORN.  163 

an  application  of  common  salt.  It  has,  therefore,  been 
inferred  by  some  that  soaking  the  seed-corn  before 
planting  in  a  solution  of  salt,  or  spreading  salt  freely 
upon  the  surface  of  the  ground,  will  have  the  effect 
of  preventing  this  disease. 

The  usual  theory  in  regard  to  this  fungus  attrib- 
utes it  to  the  bruises  and  lacerations  inflicted  upon  the 
young  plant  by  a  reckless  mode  of  cultivation.  The 
bleeding  that  occurs  from  these  wounds  results  in  the 
formation  of  the  dark  morbid  substance  above  de- 
scribed. When  this  happens  to  be  in  contact  with  the 
ear,  it  is  liable  to  prove  destructive  unless  discovered 
in  season  and  promptly  removed.  When  it  occurs  on 
other  portions  of  the  plant  it  is  more  or  less  injurious, 
sometimes  interfering  with  the  perfection  of  the  grain. 
The  only  effectual  remedy  is  speedy  removal,  and  re- 
peating this  process  as  often  as  the  fungus  may  reap- 
pear, which  it  is  apt  to  do,  and  sometimes  to  a  trou- 
blesome extent. 

But  this  course,  even  when  faithfully  pursued, 
does  not  always  insure  a  restoration  of  the  plant.  It 

t/ 

is  consequently  a  matter  of  importance  to  use  precau- 
tion in  avoiding  the  causes  of  this  malady,  and  to 
guard  carefully  against  the  wounds  and  bruises  liable 
to  occur  in  after  culture.  Though  some  of  the  plants 
thus  carelessly  mangled  may  outlive  the  infliction  and 
seem  to  thrive,  even  when  the  morbid  growth  is  suf- 
fered to  remain,  yet  a  part  of  them  must  necessarily 
become  too  much  enfeebled  to  be  capable  of  perfect- 
ing the  ear. 

In  addition  to  the  above-described  fungus  there  is 


164  INDIAN  COKN. 

also  a  reddish-brown  species  of  rust  that  sometimes 
shows  itself  on  the  leaves  of  maize.  This,  however, 
has  seldom  been  known  to  extend 'so  far  as  materially 
to  affect  the  grain.  In  some  instances,  but  more 
rarely,  this  rust  has  been  known  to  fix  itself  on  the 
stalk,  and  is  then  liable  to  produce  more  serious  in- 
jury, and  if  it  extends  to  the  ear  can  hardly  fail  to 
diminish  the  product  of  grain. 

This  disease  is  attributed  by  Mr.  Loraine,  and  some 
others,  to  the  same  cause  that  is  supposed  to  produce 
the  fungus,  namely,  the  bruises  inflicted  by  an  incon- 
siderate cultivation.  Others  ascribe  both  this  and  the 
fungus  to  an  atmospheric  influence,  or  some  peculiar- 
ity of  the  season. 

But  from  whatever  cause  these  maladies  may  pro- 
ceed, the  effect  seems  to  be,  on  the  whole,  compara- 
tively trifling,  and  the  injury  resulting  has  thus  far 
proved  too  limited  in  amount  to  create  any  consid- 
erable apprehension. 

This  comparative  and  almost  total  exception  from 
disease  is  one  cause  of  the  greater  certainty  of  the  corn 
crop,  and  is  so  far  an  argument  of  some  weight  in 
favor  of  cultivating  it  more  extensively  and  more 
thoroughly.  For  the  greater  the  degree  of  certainty 
in  any  crop  the  farmer  raises,  the  less  risk  he  incurs  in 
staking  upon  it  a  more  elaborate  and  expensive  mode 
of  culture. 


i  V  li  V 


THE  STALK  CROP. 

THE  stover  of  Indian  corn,  slighted  as  it  too  often 
is,  has  come  to  be  a  large  and  valuable  item  in  Amer- 
ican husbandry.  Its  nutritive  value  for  feeding  pur- 
poses, and  the  amount  yielded  per  acre,  render  it  in- 
trinsically and  practically  an  important  crop.  It  is 
cultivated  on  three  different  plans. 

1.  It  is  grown  primarily  and  most  extensively  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  regular  corn  crop,  in  which 
case  the  grain  is  the  chief  object  in  view,  the  stalks 
holding  a  subordinate  place. 

2.  It  is  also  raised  as  an  exclusive  fodder  crop, 
which  is  cured  and  harvested  in  the  fall  for  winter 
use.     In  this  case  the  grain,  being  no  part  of  the  ob 
ject,  is  excluded  by  close  planting,  which  gives  a  more 
abundant  yield  of  the  stalk.     Again  : 

3.  It  is  extensively  grown  as  a  green  crop  for  cat- 
tle during  summer  and  autumn.     This  process  of  soil- 
ing, as  it  is  technically  called,  is  found  to  be  very 
profitable,  and  is  getting  to  be  largely  practised. 

"When  to  these  various  forms  of  the  stalk  crop  is 
added  the  immense  supply  of  sweet  corn  extensively 
cultivated  by  the  farmer  for  table  use,  we  have  still 


166  INDIAN   COKN. 

another  addition  to  the  aggregate  yield  of  stalks,  as 
well  as  a  further  contribution  of  grain  to  the  general 
stock ;  thus  exemplifying  the  manifold  utilities  of  this 
cereal,  which,  through  so  many  and  various  channels, 
pours  annually  into  the  storehouse  of  the  husband- 
man its  munificent  supplies  of  food  for  man  and 
animals. 

FEEDING  VALUE. — The  intrinsic  worth  of  the  corn- 
stalk to  the  farmer  for  feeding  purposes,  and  its  nutri- 
tious quality  as  compared  with  straw,  hay,  and  other 
forage,  may  be  determined  by  a  comparative  view  of 
the  constituents  of  each,  and  also  more  reliably  by  a 
series  of  trials  or  experiments  in  feeding.  As  far  as 
these  trials  have  yet  been  made  by  practical  men,  the 
results  are  nearly  uniform,  and  clearly  prove  the  su- 
periority of  this  provender.  The  experience  of  en- 
lightened cultivators  places  the  corn-stalk  far  above 
the  straw  of  the  other  cereals  in  nutritive  value,  and 
justly  ranks  it,  when  properly  cured  and  rightly 
treated  in  feeding,  as  quite  equal  to  most  kinds  of 
hay.  The  testimony  of  competent  judges  on  this  sub- 
ject is  sufficiently  clear ;  and  the  reason  why  any 
farmers  are  still  doubtful  in  regard  to  it,  the  chief 
reason  in  fact  why  the  cornstalk  is  not  more  generally 
prized  at  its  true  worth,  is  because  its  value  is  too 
often  judged  by  the  results  of  injudicious  feeding,  or 
by  the  unsound  condition  of  it,  arising  from  want  of 
care  in  harvesting. 

"Indian  corn-stalks,"  says  Professor  Norton,  "  when 
cut  seasonably  and  well  cured,  make  a  most  admira- 
ble fodder.  They  are  then  sweet  and  nutritious  in 


THE   STALK  CROP.  167 

an  eminent  degree ;  when  cut  fine,  and  mixed  with 
Indian  meal,  are  eaten  by  cattle  with  much  avidity, 
and  eaten  clean,  butts  and  all.  Some  farmers  think 
that  really  good  stalks  are  worth  about  as  much  as 
the  best  hay.  When  we  consider  the  weight  of  them 
to  be  obtained  from  an  acre  of  heavy  corn,  they  are 
probably  more  than  equal,  taking  into  account  the 
respective  quantities  per  acre." 

But  let  us  now  examine  the  acreable  product  of 
this  stover.  We  may  then  be  able  by  a  comparative 
view  of  the  quality  and  amount  of  it,  to  form  a  rational 
estimate  of  its  total  value,  and  also  of  the  proportion 
it  bears  to  the  value  of  the  grain. 

There  are  few  agriculturists  who  know,  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy,  how  many  bushels  of  grain,  and 
fewer  still,  perhaps,  who  are  definitely  aware  how 
many  tons  of  stalks  their  maize  crop  yields  per  acre. 
Yet  without  this  knowledge  they  can  form  no  ade- 
quate judgment  of  what  the  crop  is  worth  in  the  ag- 
gregate, and  can  have  but  a  vague  idea  of  what  a 
bushel  of  the  grain,  or  a  ton  of  the  stalks  has  cost  them. 

RATIO  OF  THE  STALK  TO  THE  GHADT. — The  acreable 
yield  of  the  stover,  and  the  ratio  it  bears  to  the  grain, 
have  been  variously  estimated  by  practical  men. 
These  estimates  differ  according  to  climate,  variety 
of  corn,  etc.  With  the  smaller  and  prolific  varieties, 
when  the  yield  is  large,  the  ratio  sometimes  falls  as 
low  as  sixty  pounds  of  stalks  to  a  bushel  of  grain. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  large  varieties  have 
been  known  to  produce,  especially  in  warm  latitudes, 
a  growth  of  stalks  equal  to  three  or  four  times  the 


168  INDIAN   CORN. 

weight  of  the  grain.  Somewhere  between  these  ex- 
tremes the  average  ratio  is  to  be  found,  and  may  be 
computed  near  enough  for  necessary  purposes. 

In  some  estimates  reported  to  the  Patent  Office 
from  different  sections  of  the  country,  the  ratio  was 
found,  on  an  average,  to  be  about  eighty  pounds  of 
stalks  to  a  bushel  of  corn.  Some  farmers,  whose 
opinions  are  based  upon  careful  investigation,  have 
found  the  product  of  stalks  to  range  from  eighty  to 
one  hundred  pounds  to  the  bushel  of  corn.  In  some 
investigations  made  by  the  writer,  the  diversity  was 
still  greater,  but  giving  a  mean  ratio  of  nearly  ninety 
pounds  of  stover  to  a  bushel  of  grain.  But  this  pro- 
portion will  scarcely  hold  good  for  the  usual  practice 
of  cutting  and  curing.  If,  then,  we  assume  the  ratio 
of  the  grain  to  the  stover  to  be  twenty-five  bushels  to 
the  ton,  and  for  the  more  prolific  varieties  thirty  bush- 
els, the  estimate  will  be  found  very  near  the  average 
experience  of  farmers. 

In  comparing  the  relative  acreable  values  of  the 
grain  and  stalks,  the  case  is  reversed,  and  the  grain  is 
entirely  ahead.  The  estimates  of  different  farmers, 
in  regard  to  the  money  value  of  the  stalks,  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  grain,  vary  as  widely  as  their 
modes  of  treatment.  Some  of  them  compute  the 
stover  at  less  than  one-fifth  the  value  of  the  grain, 
and  others  place  it  as  high  as  one-third.  When  the 
stalks  are  in  good  condition,  the  latter  estimate  is 
probably  much  nearer  the  truth. 

It  will  always  be  found  that  the  most  successful 
cultivators  place  the  highest  value  on  their  corn-stalks, 


THE   STALK  CKOP.  169 

and  for  this  good  reason,  that  their  method  of  cutting, 
curing,  and  feeding  is  such  as  to  impart  to  them  a 
value  that  many  farmers  have  little  conception  of. 

A  few  examples  will  be  sufficient  to  show  how  the 
estimates  of  practical  men  vary  on  this  subject.  A 
farmer  in  Shelburn,  Mass.,  who  realized  seventy  dol- 
lars for  his  corn,  computed  his  stalks  at  twelve  dollars 
and  fifty  cents.  A  farmer  of  Northfield,  Mass.,  whose 
acre  of  corn  yielded  fifty  dollars,  estimated  the  stalks 
at  ten  dollars.  Another  in  ISTorthfield,  with  a  corn 
crop  worth  forty  dollars,  rated  the  stalks  at  ten  dol- 
lars. Daniel  Johnston,  an  experienced  farmer  of 
Johnsontown,  "N.  Y.,  considers  his  corn-stalks  worth 
ten  dollars  a  ton ;  and  in  a  crop  valued  at  one  hundred 
dollars,  he  estimated  the  stover  at  thirty  dollars,  and 
the  grain  at  seventy  dollars.  Matthew  Waldron,  a 
stock-farmer  of  Diamond  Yalley,  E".  Y.,  regards  his 
corn-stalks  of  more  value  than  his  best  hay  for  cattle 
of  all  kinds,  and  especially  for  cows,  and  rates  them 
at  more  than  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  grain. 

It  has  been  said,  and  appears  by  no  means  impos- 
sible, that  the  stalks  of  Indian  corn,  taken  in  the  most 
perfect  condition^  and  converted  into  milk  and  but- 
ter, according  to  the  best  principles  of  feeding,  may 
be  made  to  realize  a  value  quite  equal  to  one-half 
that  of  the  grain. 

The  quantity  of  stalks  produced  on  an  acre  may 
be  calculated,  when  the  amount  of  grain  is  known, 
according  to  the  ratio  above  laid  down,  by  taking 
twenty-five  bushels  of  grain  to  represent  a  ton  of  the 
stover.  The  quantity  that  an  acre  is  capable  of  pro- 
8 


170 


INDIAN   COEN. 


during  may  be  theoretically  determined  in  another 
way. 

It  will  be  found  that  with  the  larger  varieties  of 
corn,  the  stalks  of  a  crop  well  attended  will  weigh, 
on  an  average,  eight  ounces  each.  But,  allowing  for 
unseasonable  cutting  and  for  defective  curing,  if  we 
estimate  the  weight  at  seven  ounces,  it  will  afford  a 
fair1  criterion  of  what  an  acre  ought  to  produce.  In 
the  following  table  the  acreable  product  of  stover  is 
given,  according  to  this  basis,  for  several  different 
distances  in  planting : 


Distance 
apart. 

Stalks  per 
hilL 

Stalks  per  acre. 

Tons  per  acre, 
at  7  oz.  per  stalk. 

Hills  

3£ft. 

4 

14.223 

3.11 

3    ft. 

4 

19.360 

4.23 

Stalks  apart. 

Drills  

Sift. 

6 

26.136 

5.Y1 

3    ft. 

8 

21.780 

4.76 

3    ft. 

6 

29.040 

6.35 

In  the  above  table  a  part  of  the  results  are  perhaps 
larger  than  some  farmers  are  accustomed  to  realize ; 
but  products  equal  to  these  have  been  obtained,  and 
may  be  again. 

If  we  now  add  to  the  above  table  the  yield  of 
grain,  assuming  it  to  be  five  ounces  per  stalk,  the 
number  of  bushels  per  acre  corresponding  in  each 
case  to  the  product  of  stalks  would  be  as  follows : 


THE   STALK  CROP. 


171 


Stalks  per  acre. 
3.11  tons. 
4.23      " 
5.71      " 
4.76      " 
6.35      " 


Grain  per  acre. 

79  bushels. 
108        " 
145        " 
121         " 
162        " 


Here  it  will  be  seen  that  the  proportion  of  grain 
to  stover  is  just  about  the  same  as  the  ratio  given 
above,  which  was  twenty-five  bushels  to  a  ton ;  show- 
ing that  one  estimate  corroborates  the  other. 

Let  us  now  take  a  further  comparative  view  of 
the  stalks  and  grain  of  this  cereal.  Let  us  compare 
the  total  results  per  acre,  including  quantity  and 
price.  "We  will  suppose  the  grain  to  bring  seventy 
cents  per  bushel,  and  the  stalks  six  dollars  per  ton. 
These  figures  are  much  below  what  the  farmer  should 
realize  on  a  yearly  average,  but  they  will  answer  the 
purpose  of  illustration.  We  will  take  four  different 
yields,  viz.,  twenty-five  bushels  per  acre,  fifty  bushels, 
seventy-five  bushels,  and  one  hundred  bushels ;  assum- 
ing the  stalks  to  be,  as  before  given,  in  the  ratio  of 
one  ton  to  twenty-five  bushels.  We  shall  then  have 
the  following  result : 


YIELD  PEE  ACEE. 

VALUE  OF  EACH. 

TOTAL 
VALUE.  . 

Grain,  bushels. 

Stalks,  tons. 

Grain  at  70c. 

Stalks  at  $6. 

25 

1 

$17  50 

$6  00 

$23  50 

50 

2 

35  00 

12  00 

47  00 

75 

3 

52  50 

18  00 

70  50 

100 

4 

70  00 

24  00 

94  00 

172  INDIAN  CORN. 

Many  farmers,  by  converting  their  stalks  and  grain 
into  beef,  butter,  and  pork,  succeed  in  realizing,  by 
good  management,  a  dollar  a  bushel  for  their  grain, 
and  ten  dollars  per  ton  for  the  stover.  On  an  acre 
yielding  seventy-five  bushels,  that  would  give — 

75  bushels  of  grain,  at  $1 $75 

3  tons  of  stalks,  at  $10 30 

Total  product  $105 

By  referring  to  the  prices  assumed  in  the  table,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  value  of  the  stalks  is  a  little  over 
one-third  of  the  value  of  the  grain,  and  very  nearly 
one-fourth  of  the  total  value  of  the  crop.  According  to 
the  other  prices  given  above,  the  relative  value  of  the 
stalks  would  be  still  greater;  amounting  to  much 
more  than  one-third  of  the  value  of  the  grain,  and 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  total  value.  In  either 
case  it  is  sufficiently  evident  how  much  the  farmer 
loses  who  neglects  his  corn-stalks,  and  how  much  is 
gained  by  the  prudent,  intelligent  man  who  turns 
them  to  the  best  account. 

CURED  FODDER. — When  Indian  corn  is  planted  ex- 
clusively for  the  stover,  the  sweet  varieties  are  gen- 
erally preferred.  It  is  planted  much  closer  in  the 
drills  than  the  ordinary  practice,  and  the  amount  of 
forage  yielded  per  acre  is,  of  course,  much  greater. 
The  nutritive  value  is  also  said  to  be  superior  in  this 
case,  and  the  time  and  labor  required  in  the  cultiva- 
tion are  less  than  when  the  crop  is  raised  for  its  grain. 

In  a  soil  naturally  good  and  properly  treated,  from 
eight  to  twelve  tons  of  cured  fodder  can  be  raised  on 


THE   STALK  CROP.  173 

an  acre.  The  advantages  of  such  a  crop  are  therefore 
sufficiently  apparent,  as  the  yield  is  three  or  four 
times  greater  than  that  of  hay,  while  the  quality,  if 
the  stalks  are  well  cured,  is  in  no  respect  inferior.  To 
the  stock  farmer  this  crop  especially  commends  itself; 
for  if  his  ohject  is  to  winter  his  cattle  with  economy 
and  advantage,  there  is  no  provender  he  can  raise  that 
is  superior,  for  this  purpose,  to  well-cured  corn-forage. 

GREEN  FODDER. — The  practice  of  sowing  corn, 
either  broadcast  or  in  drills,  for  the  purpose  of  feed- 
ing it  in  the  green  state  during  summer  and  autumn, 
has  been  gaining  ground  for  a  number  of  years.  The 
advantage  of  this  is  found  to  be  so  decided  that  farm- 
ers are  beginning  to  adopt  it  very  generally.  There 
is,  perhaps,  no  other  way  in  which  an  equal  amount 
of  nutritious  feed  can  be  extracted  from  the  same  ex- 
tent of  ground.  All  kinds  of  cattle  and  young  stock 
thrive  upon  it,  and  for  milch  cows  especially  it  is  al- 
lowed by  practical  men  to  be  better  adapted  than  any 
other  product  of  the  farm. 

This  crop  requires  for  its  best  results  a  high  con- 
dition of  soil,  and  well  remunerates  the  application 
of  manure  and  labor.  Sorghum  is  sometimes  planted 
as  a  soiling  crop,  but  the  sweet  varieties  of  Indian 
corn  are  generally  preferred.  The  best  method  of 
planting  is  in  drills,  which  is  found  to  give  a  larger 
yield  than  sowing  broadcast.  The  product  of  the 
green  fodder  crop  is  usually  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
tons.  Thirty  tons  have  been  raised,  and  higher  yields 
are  reported.  Considering  the  amount  of  this  prov- 
ender that  can  be  grown  upon  an  acre,  and  its  unri- 


174:  INDIAN  CORN. 

vailed  excellence  as  a  succulent  food,  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  attention  of  agriculturists  is  very  gen- 
erally drawn  to  the  subject. 

Mr.  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  of  Mass.,  long  and  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  this  system  of  farming,  estimates 
it  is  said  that  an  acre  will,  by  this  method,  and  with 
this  fodder,  support  from  three  to  four  cows.  Mr. 
D.  S.  Curtis,  of  Madison,  Wis.,  has  communicated  a 
valuable  paper  on  this  subject  to  the  Patent  Office 
Report  for  1859,  and  finds  also  a  like  advantage  and 
economy  in  this  practice,  even  in  a  section  of  country 
where  land  is  cheap  and  labor  is  dear. 

The  American  Institute  Farmer's  Club  have  re- 
corded their  opinion  that  "  nothing  ever  planted  or 
sown  for  green  or  winter  fodder,  will  give  as  much 
per  acre  as  Indian  corn ; "  and  in  the  further  discus- 
sion of  this  subject  by  the  club,  Mr.  Carpenter  added 
that  one  of  his  neighbors  last  year  kept  twenty-four 
head  of  cattle  from  the  middle  of  July  till  frost  upon 
two  and  a  half  acres  of  sowed  corn,  without  exhaust- 
ing the  whole  product.  He  believes  that  fifteen  cows 
could  be  well  kept  upon  one  acre  of  corn,  by  com- 
mencing to  cut  it  up  as  soon  as  it  was  large  enough, 
or  whenever  the  pasture  failed,  so  as  to  keep  them  in 
a  full  flow  of  milk  all  the  autumn. 

The  soiling  system,  when  properly  conducted,  em- 
braces other  grains,  grasses,  and  root  crops,  as  well  as 
Indian  corn ;  but  none  of  them  contribute  so  largely 
to  its  success  and  profit  as  the  latter ;  and  for  the  sim- 
ple reason  that  they  are  none  of  them  capable  of 


THE  STALK  CKOP.  175 

yielding  so  large  a  return  in  proportion  to  the  land 
and  labor  employed. 

COST  OF  PRODUCING-  CORN-FORAGE. — The  cost  of 
raising  this  forage  has  been  variously  estimated,  bnt 
is  in  nearly  all  cases  remarkably  low,  in  consequence 
of  the  large  amount  per  acre  compared  with  the  labor 
required  to  produce  it. 

Mr.  S.  "W.  Hall,  of  Elmira,  K  Y.,  who  obtained 
thirty  tons  from  an  acre,  estimated  the  entire  expense 
of  the  acre  at  thirty  dollars,  which  brings  the  cost  of  a 
single  ton  down  to  one  dollar.  Mr.  J.  Gr.  Webb,  of 
Oneida  County,  found  the  expense  per  acre  to  be  a 
little  over  eleven  dollars  for  a  yield  of  twenty-five 
tons,  which  makes  the  cost  per  ton  less  than  half  a 
dollar.  The  latter  estimate,  if  entirely  accurate,  is 
doubtless  an  exceptional  case. 

The  average  cost  of  this  crop  throughout  the  coun- 
try will  probably  range  from  one  and  a  half  to  two 
dollars  per  ton ;  and  of  the  cured  fodder  from  two  to 
four  dollars  per  ton.  At  these  figures,  any  farmer, 
who  understands  how  to  turn  his  stalks  to  a  good  ac- 
count, must  find  them  exceedingly  profitable. 

ESTIMATED  YALUE  OF  THE  STALK  CROP. — In  view 
of  the  increasing  extent  and  acknowledged  import- 
ance of  this  crop,  it  would  be  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive to  know  the  annual  amount  and  value  of  it  for  the 
whole  country.  Although  the  census  returns  do  not  en- 
lighten us  on  this  point,  we  can  still  form  a  proximate 
estimate  from  other  data  that  will  perhaps  be  suffi- 
ciently accurate  for  a  general  view  of  the  subject. 

The  total  product  of  Indian  corn  in  1860  was 


1Y6  INDIAN   CORN. 

eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight  millions,  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-two  thousand,  seven  hundred  and 
forty  bushels.  Allowing  twenty- five  bushels  of  grain 
to  a  ton  of  stover,  this  would  give  thirty-three  mil- 
lions, five  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand,  seven  hun- 
dred and  nine  tons  as  the  stalk  product  of  the  main 
corn  crop  of  the  country.  This,  however,  is  but  one 
branch,  though  by  far  the  largest,  of  the  entire  stalk 
crop.  To  arrive  at  the  sum  total,  we  must  add  to 
this  the  amount  of  stalks  produced  by  several  other 
crops,  viz. :  the  crop  of  sweet  corn,  of  green  fodder, 
and  of  cured  fodder. 

Though  we  have  not  the  same  data  to  base  a  com- 
putation upon  in  the  case  of  these  crops  as  in  the  one 
above,  we  can  still  deduce  from  other  grounds  proxi- 
mate results  which,  if  somewhat  less  certain,  may  yet 
be  placed  low  enough  to  give  them  a  high  degree  of 
probability.  There  are  four  million  farmers  in  the 
United  States,  some  of  whom,  doubtless,  cultivate  all 
three  of  these  crops,  while  others  raise  one  or  two  of 
them,  and  others  again  perhaps  not  any.  Now  it  ia 
reasonable  to  presume  that  on  an  average  one  or 
another  of  these  crops  is  raised  by  every  farmer ;  but 
to  bring  the  estimate  nearer  to  a  certainty,  let  us  as- 
sume that  by  one-half  the  farmers  in  the  country  one 
or  another  of  these  crops  is  annually  cultivated.  Let 
us  then  further  suppose  the  extent  of  each  crop  to  be 
one  acre,  and  the  average  yield  of  stalks  four  tons  per 
acre.  We  then  have  eight  million  tons  of  stover  to 
be  added  to  the  amount  obtained  above. 

If  now,  for  the  sake  of  still  higher  probability,  we 


THE  STALK  CHOP.  177 

make  a  further  abatement,  reducing  the  eight  million 
tons  to  six  and  a  half  million,  we  shall  still  have  a 
grand  total  of  FORTY  MILLION  TONS  as  the  product  of 
the  stover  of  Indian  corn  for  the  whole  country,  at 
the  period  of  the  last  census.  This  stover  is  worth, 
in  some  sections,  from  three  to  five  dollars  per  ton  ; 
in  other  localities  ten  dollars  and  upwards.  If  we 
estimate  the  whole  crop  at  five  dollars  per  ton,  It  will 
give  for  the  aggregate  value  of  the  stalk  crop  of  the 
United  States,  TWO  HUNDRED  MILLION  DOLLARS. 

The  hay  crop  for  1860  was  about  nineteen  million 
tons.  The  census  tables  record  some  products  of 
but  little  over  a  million  dollars  in  annual  value. 
Yet  here  is  a  product  worth  more  than  two  hundred 
millions,  which  the  Government  has  never  recognized, 
and  which,  it  is  believed,  is  nowhere  represented  in 
any  authentic  record,  or  any  published  account. 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  CUTTING  CORN-STALKS. — There 
is  perhaps  no  question  in  agriculture  that  has  given 
rise  to  more  discussion  than  this.  The  opinions  of 
farmers  on  the  subject  are  as  various  as  their  prac- 
tices. Some  of  them  are  accustomed  to  cut  their 
stover  half  an  inch  long,  others  a  full  inch  in  length, 
while  some  contend  that  the  greatest  advantage  is 
found  in  chaffing  them  very  finely,  not  over  one-fourth 
of  an  inch,  and  still  another  class  maintain  that  there 
is  little  or  no  benefit  in  cutting  them  at  all.  This 
difference  of  opinion  has  kept  up,  for  years,  a  lively 
discussion  in  the  agricultural  journals,  without  appar- 
ently settling  any  one  point  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
opposing  parties. 
8* 


178  INDIAN   CORN. 

In  a  theoretical  view  it  would  appear  that  those 
who  advocate  the  shortest  cutting  have  taken  the  true 
rational  ground.  It  seems  to  be  the  plain  dictate  of 
reason,  and  the  obvious  suggestion  of  common  sense, 
that  any  mechanical  process  by  which  the  food  of  do- 
mestic animals  is  effectually  subdivided  and  pulverized 
before  entering  the  stomach,  must  have  a  tendency  to 
render  digestion  more  easy,  more  certain,  and  more 
thorough,  and  that  so  far  as  this  is  accomplished  the 
nutritive  effect  of  the  food  is  in  the  same  degree  in- 
creased. 

The  very  teeth  that  nature  has  planted  in  the 
mouth  of  every  animal,  stationed  as  they  are,  like  so 
many  sentinels,  in  the  entrance-porch  of  the  stomach 
to  guard  against  the  intrusion  of  unprepared  food,  by 
arresting  and  crushing  all  that  passes  in,  clearly  indi- 
cate that  pulverization  is  an  indispensable  process, 
and  a  necessary  prelude  to  digestion. 

ISTow,  if  it  could  be  shown  that  the  teeth  alone,  and 
unassisted,  are  always  competent  to  this  end,  that  they 
invariably  and  perfectly  perform  their  office,  never 
failing  to  reduce  and  grind  thoroughly  and  rapidly 
every  kind  of  food  presented,  there  might  then  be 
some  reason  for  doubting  the  necessity  of  cutting  corn- 
fodder  or  any  other  provender  before  feeding.  But  it 
is  a  well-ascertained  fact  that  the  teeth  are  not  perfect 
and  infallible  in  their  action — that  the  food  of  cattle, 
as  well  as  the  food  of  mankind,  is  very  often  imper- 
fectly and  insufficiently  masticated.  And  for  this 
there  are  several  reasons. 

It  frequently  happens  that  the  impatient  appetite 


THE   STALK  CROP.  179 

refuses  to  wait  upon  the  slow  process  of  mastication. 
The  blind  instinct  of  a  voracious  stomach  pays  but  lit- 
tle respect  to  the  mandibles,  and  the  food  is  snatched 
from  them  before  their  work  of  grinding  is  fairly  be- 
gun. We  all  know  that  a  hungry  man  will  often  bolt 
his  food  nearly  whole,  and  why  should  we  expect  the 
ox  to  be  more  of  a  philosopher  than  his  master  ? 

But  it  is  not  only  in  cases  of  extraordinary  appe- 
tite that  the  teeth  of  domestic  animals  fail  to  perform 
their  office  perfectly.  In  all  cases  where  the  proven- 
der is  by  its  nature  hard  and  tough,  or  has  a  hard  ex- 
terior, the  process  of  mastication,  though  not  entirely 
prevented,  is  seriously  impeded ;  and  whatever  ren- 
ders mastication  slow,  laborious,  and  difficult,  must 
necessarily  render  it  more  or  less  imperfect  in  its  re- 
sults. The  consequence  is  that  the  animal  either 
abandons  with  weary  jaws  its  unfinished  meal,  or,  if 
the  whole  is  swallowed,  loses  some  portion  of  the  ben- 
efit by  the  imperfect  digestion  necessarily  resulting 
from  insufficient  mastication. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  teeth,  in  performing 
their  intended  function,  have  two  serious  obstacles  to 
contend  with — the  hardness  of  the  fodder  and  the  hun- 
ger of  the  animal.  Their  efficiency  is  thus  diminished, 
their  work  is  imperfectly  performed,  and  some  portion 
of  the  food  enters  the  stomach  in  a  condition  unfitted 
for  its  intended  purpose.  To  meet  this  difficulty  hu- 
man skill  has  supplied  the  cutting  machine,  which, 
when  rightly  used,  cooperates  with  the  teeth  of  the 
animal  in  bringing  the  provender  to  the  precise  con- 
dition required  by  the  organs  of  the  stomach ;  ren- 


180  INDIAN   CORN. 

dering  the  mastication  complete,  the  digestion  perfect, 
and  the  animal  thrifty. 

These  remarks  and  the  principle  involved  are  not 
limited  in  their  application  to  the  stover  of  corn,  but 
extend  equally  to  the  cutting  of  hay  and  straw,  to  the 
slicing  or  pulping  of  roots,  and  to  the  grinding  of  all 
grains  intended  for  domestic  animals.  In  every  case, 
whatever  the  kind  of  forage  employed,  the  condition 
essential  to  the  highest  success  in  feeding  is  the  me- 
chanical reduction  of  the  food  to  such  a  degree  of 
fineness  as  shall  render  mastication  easy,  rapid,  thor- 
ough, and  certain. 

This  theory  is  not  only  founded  in  the  nature  of 
things,  but  is  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  a  major- 
ity of  practical  farmers,  as  well  as  by  the  researches 
of  science.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  chemists  that 
the  cellulose  or  fibre  contained  in  most  kinds  of  forage 
partakes  of  the  nature  of  starch,  being  nearly  identical 
with  it,  and  that,  when  rendered  soluble,  it  is  quite  as 
nutritious.  It  has  also  been  found  that  the  more  finely 
this  fibre  is  chaffed,  the  more  soluble  it  becomes ;  and 
that  this  solubility  is  still  further  increased  by  the  ap- 
plication of  steam  or  scalding  water.  According  to 
Dr.  Cameron  this  woody  fibre  may  be  rendered  to  a 
great  extent  capable  of  assimilation,  and  when  well 
assimilated  or  digested  four-tenths  of  its  weight  may 
be  converted  into  fat. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  practical  men,  both  in 
this  country  and  in  England,  that  most  kinds  of  prov- 
ender, when  finely  chaffed,  are  increased  in  value 
from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent.,  and  some  consider  the 


THE   STALK   CROP.  181 

gain  equal  to  much  more  than  this.  "  It  has  been 
proved,"  says  the  Working  Farmer,  "  that  nineteen 
pounds  of  hay,  cut  one  inch  long,  will  take  the  place 
of  twenty-five  pounds  of  uncut  hay ;  and  it  is  equally 
true  that  if  the  hay  be  cut  one  quarter  of  an  inch  or 
less  in  length,  the  same  relative  proportion  will  an- 
swer the  purpose.  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  thirteen 
pounds  of  chaffed  hay  is  equal  to  nineteen  pounds 
one  inch  long,  or  twenty-five  pounds  in  the  natural 
state.  All  these  facts  are  equally  applicable  to  corn- 
stalks." 

They  are,  indeed,  even  more  applicable  to  stalks 
than  either  to  hay  or  straw,  as  is  evident  from  the 
nature  of  the  case.  Every  consideration  in  favor  of 
cutting  hay  becomes  a  much  stronger  argument  when 
applied  to  corn-fodder. 

Without  insisting  on  all  the  gain  in  value  claimed 
by  the  journal  above  quoted,  if  we  assume  even  the 
half  of  that  increase,  taking  thirteen  pounds  of  hay 
or  stalks  finely  chaffed  as  equal  to  nineteen  pounds 
uncut,  this  will  still  show  a  gain  of  forty-six  per  cent., 
which  corresponds  with  the  experience  of  many  farm- 
ers, and  is  rendered  entirely  probable  by  the  researches 
of  chemistry. 

But  in  order  to  adopt  an  estimate  that  may  be 
generally  and  certainly  realized,  let  us  put  the  ratio 
lower  still.  It  is  certainly  a  reasonable  presumption, 
that  on  a  general  average  the  increase  in  the  value 
of  this  stover,  by  chaffing  it  finely,  will  be  found  not 
less  than  forty  per  cent. ;  and  that  when  it  is  steamed 
or  thoroughly  soaked  after  cutting,  the  whole  gain 


182 


INDIAN   CORN. 


will  be  equivalent  to  sixty  per  cent,  over  the  value  of 
the  uncut  fodder. 

This  principle  may  be  more  fully  expressed  by  the 
following  tabular  form,  indicating  the  increase  in  the 
feeding  value  of  stalks  for  different  degrees  of  treat- 
ment: 


Cut  to. 

Gain  per  cent. 

Gain  when  steamed. 

1  inch. 

20 

40  per  cent. 

t     " 

30 

50        " 

i     " 

40 

60       " 

The  half-inch  cutting  is  sometimes  found  objec- 
tionable on  account  of  the  hard  coating  of  the  stalk 
being  liable  to  get  between  the  teeth  of  the  animal, 
producing  discomfort  and  occasionally  soreness  of  the 
mouth.  This,  it  is  said,  may  be  to  some  extent  pre- 
vented by  steaming,  which  softens  the  hard  exterior 
of  the  stalk.  But  far  the  best  and  surest  way  to  ob- 
viate the  difficulty  is  to  adopt  the  better  practice  of 
chaffing  finely  and  steaming.  It  is  here  that  the 
greatest  advantage  is  found,  and  the  greatest  cer- 
tainty of  profitable  results. 

Yet  notwithstanding  the  facts  and  arguments  re- 
peatedly adduced  in  favor  of  cutting  corn-fodder, 
there  are  some  practical  farmers  who  reject  this  whole 
doctrine,  appealing  to  their  individual  experience  as 
a  refutation  of  it.  They  assure  us  that  cattle  will 
sometimes  leave  a  portion  of  their  stalks  unconsumed, 


THE  STALK  CROP.  183 

even  when  the  latter  have  been  cut  before  feeding ; 
and  on  this  single,  unimportant,  misunderstood  fact, 
the  whole  of  their  objection  seems  to  be  suspended. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  some  portion  of  the  cut 
stover  is  sometimes  left  uneaten  in  the  feeding-box, 
though  such  cases  will  generally  be  found  to  arise 
either  from  imperfect  cutting,  or  from  the  unsound 
condition  of  the  stalk.  If  the  stover  is  not  cut  suffi- 
ciently small  to  accomplish  the  intended  object,  or  if 
it  is  mouldy  from  imperfect  curing,  these  causes  will 
naturally  make  some  difference  in  the  amount  con- 
sumed. But  waiving  this  explanation  entirely,  and 
admitting  the  fact  as  broadly  as  it  is  asserted,  that 
some  part  of  the  stalks  will  be  rejected  whether  cut  or 
uncut,  it  will  yet  be  found  that  this  fact  itself,  when 
rightly  considered,  amounts  to  nothing  whatever  as 
an  argument  against  cutting  or  chaffing  this  fodder. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustrating  this  point,  let  us 
suppose  a  case,  and  let  us  put  the  facts  as  strongly  as 
possible  in  favor  of  the  objector.  We  will  suppose 
that  some  farmer,  in  order  to  test  this  principle,  di- 
vides his  herd  into  three  equal  classes,  feeding  one- 
third  with  whole  stalks,  another  with  the  same  fod- 
der cut  to  half  an  inch,  and  the  remaining  third  with 
the  stover  finely  chaffed  and  steamed.  In  order  to 
be  more  accurate,  he  weighs  the  fodder,  giving  to  each 
animal  thirteen  pounds  at  each  feeding.  After  every 
meal  the  feed-boxes  are  examined,  and  the  quantity 
left  is  carefully  weighed.  At  the  end  of  a  week  he 
finds  that  the  cattle  of  the  first  division,  that  were  fed 
with  the  whole  stalks,  have  left,  on  an  average,  three 


184  INDIAN  CORN. 

pounds  each,  out  of  every  thirteen  pounds  received. 
He  also  finds  that  in  both  the  other  divisions  each 
animal  has  left  the  same  proportion  (three  pounds 
in  thirteen)  unconsumed. 

From  these  results  he  infers,  without  a  moment's 
reflection,  that  there  is  no  advantage  in  cutting  his 
stalks. 

Now  let  us  see  whether  this  is  a  fair  inference. 
His  cattle  have  each  received  thirteen  pounds  at  a 
feed,  out  of  which  they  have  eaten  ten  pounds,  reject- 
ing three.  The  primary  question  here  is  this  :  What 
is  the  amount  of  benefit  derived  by  each  animal  from 
the  ten  pounds  eaten  ?  That  which  he  has  not  eaten, 
whether  it  were  three  pounds  or  thirty,  has  nothing 
to  do  with  this  comparison.  The  rejected  food  is  a 
secondary  matter,  which,  when  separately  considered 
and  correctly  explained,  will  be  found  to  sustain 
rather  than  invalidate  the  theory  here  advocated. 

According  to  the  general  principle  above  eluci- 
dated, that  cutting  or  crushing  the  food  of  animals  to 
a  greater  degree  of  fineness  increases  the  nutritive 
value,  it  will  be  seen  that,  in  the  case  above  stated, 
the  cattle  in  the  second  division  derived  more  benefit 
from  each  ten  pounds  consumed  than  those  in  the 
first  division ;  while  those  in  the  third  class,  which  had 
their  stover  finely  chaffed  and  steamed,  received  much 
greater  benefit  from  it  than  any  of  the  others.  In 
other  words,  the  ten  pounds  of  stover  cut  to  half  an 
inch  were  equal  to  thirteen  pounds  of  the  uncut,  and 
the  ten  pounds  chaffed  and  steamed  were  equivalent 
to  sixteen  pounds  of  the  whole  stalks. 


THE   STALK   CROP.  185 

While,  therefore,  the  proprietor  supposed  he  was 
feeding  his  cattle  equally  all  around,  he  was  virtually, 
and  in  effect,  giving  to  one  class  thirteen  pounds,  to 
another  about  seventeen  pounds,  and  to  another  nearly 
twenty-one  pounds. 

If,  now,  instead  of  fixing  his  mind  so  exclusively 
on  the  remnants,  he  had  paid  more  attention  to  the 
food  they  ate,  and  to  the  effect  produced  by  it ;  if  he 
had  pushed  his  experiment  further,  and  continued  the 
feeding  a  few  weeks  longer,  weighing  his  cattle  at 
regular  intervals,  to  determine  the  increase  of  flesh 
resulting  from  each  mode  of  feeding,  he  would  then, 
indeed,  have  fairly  tested,  on  philosophical  principles, 
the  theory  which  he  now  supposes  he  has  demolished 
with  a  few  pounds  of  remnants. 

In  regard  to  the  amount  of  stover  left  unconsumed, 
the  motive  for  rejection  was  not  the  same  in  each 
case.  The  cattle  fed  with  the  whole  stalks,  abandoned 
the  last  portion  of  them  through  fatigue  and  impa- 
tience. They  found  the  labor  of  mastication  too 
great,  and  the  process  too  slow  and. tedious,  and  they 
gave  it  up  in  despair.  On  the  other  hand,  those  that 
received  their  fodder  in  better  condition,  relinquished 
the  last  part  of  it  from  mere  satiety.  They  found 
their  food  so  nutritious  and  satisfying,  that  less  than 
the  whole  was  sufficient  for  their  requirements.  All 
that  is  necessary  to  prevent  waste  in  such  cases,  is  to 
dimmish  the  amount  of  food. 

An  animal  receiving  twenty-one  pounds  at  a  meal, 
is  much  more  likely  to  leave  a  portion  of  it,  than  one 
receiving  only  thirteen  pounds ;  and  if  a  part  is  left 


186  INDIAN   CORN. 

in  both  cases,  these  remainders,  though  both  signifi- 
cant, have  each  a  different  import.  The  former  indi- 
cates an  appeased  appetite  and  a  contented  animal. 
The  latter  proclaims  the  incompetency  of  the  teeth, 
and  the  animal  still  hungry.  The  former  teaches  the 
proprietor  that  when  the  fodder  is  rightly  prepared,  a 
less  amount  is  sufficient.  The  latter  gives  him  to 
understand  that  when  the  stover  is  fed  without  cut- 
ting, however  small  the  quantity,  a  part  will  be 
wasted ;  and  however  large  the  amount,  the  animal 
will  leave  it  unsatisfied. 

• 

There  is,  on  the  whole,  but  one  real  objection  to 
the  practice  of  cutting  this  provender,  and  that  is  the 
expense  connected  with  it.  What  the  exact  cost 
amounts  to  does  not  appear  to  have  been  as  yet  very 
accurately  determined.  But  without  knowing  this 
precisely,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that,  in  any  event,  the 
expense  of  chaffing  and  steaming  or  soaking,  is  far 
outweighed  by  the  advantage  gained. 

It  has  been  estimated  that,  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, the  cost  of  cutting  and  soaking  will  not 
vary  greatly  from  seven  or  eight  per  cent,  on  the 
value  of  the  stalks.  When  it  is  considered  that  the 
value  is  increased  by  this  treatment  not  less  than  sixty 
per  cent.,  and  in  the  opinion  of  some  farmers  nearly 
one  hundred  per  cent.,  it  becomes  evident  that  the 
objection  has  no  practical  force,  and  scarcely  needs  to 
be  further  considered. 

If  the  practice  of  chaffing  and  steaming  the  stover 
of  corn  and  other  kinds  of  forage  were  universal 


THE   STALK   CEOP.  187 

among  our  farmers,  the  effect  would  be  to  render  the 
forty  million  tons  of  corn-stalks  now  raised  in  this 
country  equivalent  in  value  to  more  than  sixty  mil- 
lion tons ;  the  hay  crop,  which  is  now  about  twenty 
million  tons,  would  be  virtually  increased  to  over 
thirty  millions,  and  all  other  fodder  capable  of  the 
same  treatment  would  be  augmented  in  the  same  pro- 
portion. This  consideration  is  perhaps  a  sufficient 
apology  for  the  space  here  devoted  to  an  examination 
of  the  subject. 

JSTuTEiTivE  VALUE  OF  THE  COB. — The  ears  of  Indian 
coAi  are  frequently  ground  entire,  before  shelling,  and 
the  meal  yielded  by  this  process,  being  the  joint  prod- 
uct of  the  grain  and  cob,  is  found  variously  useful. 
Many  farmers  employ  it  quite  extensively  in  feeding, 
and  are  well  satisfied  with  the  results,  although  there 
is  some  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  utility 
of  it. 

As  corn-meal  is  considered  a  concentrated  and 
somewhat  stimulating  food,  and  is  therefore  nearly 
always  blended  with  some  other  provender  when  fed 
to  stock,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  the  cob 
may  not  prove  to  be,  when  ground  with  the  grain,  at 
least  a  convenient  and  useful  divisor  for  reducing  the 
pure  meal. 

But  if  the  cob,  while  entirely  free  from  all  hurtful 
elements,  is  found  to  contain,  at  the  same  time,  a  pro- 
portion of  nutritive  value,  then  its  adaptation  to  this 
object  is  clear  and  undoubted,  and  it  becomes  not  only 
negatively  useful  as  a  divisor,  but  positively  profitable 
as  an  addition  to  the  feed.  As  chemistry  has  not  de- 


188  INDIAN   CORN. 

tected  any  injurious  quality  in  the  cob,  but  has  shown 
that  it  contains  a  positive  and  available  nutritive 
value,  and  as  the  testimony  of  experience  is  mainly  in 
its  favor,  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  turned  to  a  useful  account. 

The  ratio  of  the  cob  to  the  grain,  when  compared 
by  weight,  is  found  to  be,  on  a  general  average,  about 
as  one  to  four,  and  the  proportion  it  bears  to  the  entire 
ear  before  shelling  as  one  to  five. 

According  to  chemical  analysis  there  are  in  two 
hundred  pounds  of  cobs  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  pounds  of  fibre,  and  the  balance  consists  of  vari- 
ous substances  capable  of  assimilation ,  including  sugar 
and  extract,  dextrine  or  gum,  glutinous  matter,  a 
proportion  of  soluble  fibre,  etc.  There  are  therefore 
in  every  two  hundred  pounds  of  cobs  not  less  than 
seventy-three  pounds  of  available  matter,  more  or  less 
nutritive,  which  go  to  support  respiration,  to  sustain 
animal  heat,  and  are  capable  of  being  transformed 
into  nerve,  muscle,  and  bone. 

According  to  this  view,  there  are  in  one  thousand 
pounds  of  corn  and  cob  meal  the  following  constit- 
uents : 

Ground  grain 800  Ibs. 

Assimilable  portion  of  the  cob Y3 

Nutritive  matter 873 

Fibre  of  cob 12T 

1,000  Ibs. 

From  this  comparison  it  appears  that,  by  grinding 
the  cob  with  the  corn,  there  is  a  gain  of  twenty-five 


THE   STALK   CROP.  189 

per  cent,  in  the  quantity  of  food,  while  the  nutritive 
matter  is  increased  between  nine  and  ten  per  cent. 
At  the  same  time  the  general  quality  of  the  product 
is  in  some  respects  improved,  as  the  new  compound 
contains  more  variety  with  less  concentration  than  the 
corn-meal  alone.  It  is,  indeed,  thought  by  some  that 
the  addition  of  the  ground  cob  to  the  pure  meal,  by 
rendering  the  latter  less  compact  in  the  stomach,  and 
therefore  more  digestible,  contributes  a  value  nearly 
in  proportion  to  its  quantity,  and  that  consequently 
the  corn  and  cob  meal  is  worth  nearly  as  much  in 
feeding,  pound  for  pound,  as  the  corn-meal  alone. 

In  some  instances  this  estimate  would  perhaps  be 
found  not  far  from  the  truth ;  but  it  would  certainly 
not  hold  good  in  those  cases  where  the  meal  is  fed 
for  fattening  purposes. 

Mr.  Henry  A.  Morgan,  a  New  Jersey  farmer,  has 
communicated  to  the  Working  Farmer  his  estimate 
of  the  value  of  this  feed,  as  derived  from  experiments. 
"  I  have  lately,"  he  writes,  "  adopted  the  practice  of 
feeding  corn  and  cob  meal  to  my  stock,  and  have 
found  a  very  considerable  advantage  in  it.  The  chem- 
ical investigation  of  Dr.  Salsbury  and  the  trials  made 
by  Mr.  Ellsworth  and  other  practical  men,  so  clearly 
indicate  the  value  of  corn  cobs,  that  I  have  been  in- 
duced to  make  some  accurate  experiments  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  result  of  these  has  satisfied  me  that  corn 
cobs,  when  rightly  used  in  feeding,  are  worth  more 
than  one-fourth  of  the  same  weight  of  hay,  and  nearly 
one- eighth  of  their  weight  of  corn.  As  this  is  a  mat- 
ter of  some  interest  to  stock  farmers,  many  of  whom 


190  INDIAN   CORN. 

are  readers  of  jour  journal,  I  have  thought  it  might 
be  well  to  call  their  attention  to  the  subject,  and  it 
may  perhaps  lead  to  further  investigation  and  useful 
results." 

In  a  late  number  of  the  Country  Gentleman^  Mr. 
E.  T.  Selden,  of  Westchester  Co.,  New  York,  has  re- 
ported some  experiments  in  feeding,  that  seem  to 
throw  a  clear  light  on  this  subject.  "  I  have  been  try- 
ing," he  remarks,  "  some  experiments  with  corn-stalks, 
and  also  with  corn  and  cob  meal.  When  the  stalks 
are  cut  about  an  inch  long,  I  find  my  cattle  and  sheep 
will  eat  nearly  one-third  more  of  them  than  of  the 
whole  stalks.  Also  I  find  that  when  I  cut  them  much 
smaller — say  one-fourth  or  one-eighth  inch — and  pour 
hot  water  over  them,  to  stand  a  few  hours,  the  differ- 
ence is  so  great  I  can  hardly  believe  it.  They  do  not 
leave  a  gill,  and  they  thrive  on  it  wonderfully.  I  find, 
by  a  fair  and  careful  trial,  that  they  gain  on  this  fod- 
der more  than  on  the  best  hay. 

"I  have  also  tried  grinding  my  corn  in  the  ear 
with  an  iron  mill.  I  have  long  thought  the  cob  to  be 
nutritious,  and  I  have  now  given  it  a  full  trial.  I  be- 
lieve it  is  said  the  cob  weighs  one-fifth  of  the  whole 
ear.  For  the  sake  of  giving  it  a  fair  test,  I  have  fed 
alongside  of  this  another  preparation,  which  is  corn- 
meal  without  the  cob,  but  instead  of  the  cob  one-fifth 
weight  of  oat-straw  cut  fine.  In  this  mixture  the 
weight  of  oat-straw  is  the  same  as  the  weight  of  the 
cob  in  the  other,  so  as  to  make  a  fair  comparison. 

"  After  trying  for  several  weeks,  I  found  the  corn 
and  cob  meal  came  out  a  little  ahead ;  that  is,  the 


THE   STALK  CROP.  191 

cattle  and  sheep  fed  on  the  corn  and  cob  meal  gained 
more  in  weight  than  those  fed  with  meal  and  cut 
straw.  I  do  not  know  how  much  value  there  is  in 
oat-straw ;  but,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  I  think 
the  corn-cob  a  little  the  best.  I  have  also  tried  this 
corn  and  cob  feed  mixed  with  cut  stalks,  and  when  the 
mass  is  well  soaked  in  hot  water,  it  makes  one  of  the 
best  feeds  I  have  ever  used.  One  of  my  neighbors 
says  he  thinks  this  mixture  almost  equal  to  pure 
grain  for  fattening  beef  or  making  butter.  It  seems 
to  me  that  if  these  three  parts  of  corn  are  made  fine 
and  mixed  in  the  right  quantity,  it  must  make  a  most 
excellent  kind  of  feed  for  nearly  all  purposes. 

"  All  the  above  experiments  were  carefully  made 
by  weight  and  measure." 

But  there  is  another  consideration  commending  to 
farmers  the  use  of  this  feed.  By  employing  a  portable 
mill  or  crusher,  of  which  there  are  several  kinds  in 
successful  use,  they  will  find  both  economy  and  con- 
venience in  grinding  their  ears  at  home,  instead  of 
shelling  the  corn  and  sending  it  to  the  mill.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  the  expense  of  shelling  the  corn, 
conveying  it  to  the  mill,  paying  the  toll,  and  trans- 
porting the  meal  back  to  the  farm  again,  is  sufficient 
to  pay  for  crushing  twice  the  quantity  at  home.  That 
is,  twenty  bushels  of  the  grain  alone,  ground  at  the 
mill,  would  cost  as  much  as  forty  bushels  of  grain, 
with  the  included  cob,  ground  at  home.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  some,  the  gain  is  even  more  than  this. 

According  to  this  estimate,  the  farmer  who  uses 
a  crushing-mill  not  only  gets  his  cobs  ground  for 


192  INDIAN  CORN. 

nothing,  but  he  also  gets  his  grain  ground  at  half 
price. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  opinion  of  some  feed- 
ers that  this  mode  of  grinding  does  not  render  the  meal 
sufficiently  fine  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  the  nutritive 
value  in  feeding.  There  is,  perhaps,  some  weight  in 
this  objection  if  the  meal  is  fed  raw  or  dry.  But  if 
cooked  or  steamed  before  feeding,  or  even  if  thoroughly 
soaked,  the  objection  is  obviated,  and  a  still  further 
value  is  imparted  to  the  feed. 

An  Ohio  correspondent  of  the  Country  Gentleman, 
after  an  experience  of  five  years  in  grinding  his  ears 
at  home,  pronounces  it  a  complete  success.  He  con- 
verts, as  he  informs  the  editor  of  that  journal,  from 
six  to  ten  bushels  of  ears  per  hour  into  meal,  which  he 
feeds  to  chickens  of  two  days  old,  and  so  on,  up  to  the  ox 
of  two  thousand  Ibs. ;  and  fattens  from  eight  to  twelve 
head  of  cattle  every  winter  with  satisfactory  returns. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Prairie  Farmer  ^  after  feed- 
ing his  cows  for  over  two  years  by  this  method,  states 
that  they  do  much  better  than  formerly,  and  that  he 
finds  a  gain  of  one-third  in  the  use  of  this  feed. 

If  some  definite  conclusion,  or  even  a  probable 
estimate  were  formed,  as  to  the  relative  value  of  the 
cob,  when  compared  with  any  known  standard,  it 
would  give  perhaps  a  clearer  view  of  what  it  is  actually 
worth  in  feeding.  Chemistry  has  shown  that  seventy- 
three  parts  in  two  hundred  are  more  or  less  nutritious. 
Experience  has  also  proved  that  it  possesses  this  quality 
in  a  considerable  degree.  But  here  opinions  differ,  some 
rating  its  nutritive  value  much  higher  than  others. 


THE   STALK   CROP.  193 

By  most  farmers  who  make  use  of  the  cob,  it  is 
compared  with  the  straw  of  the  cereals,  and  seems  to 
be  considered  equal  to  them  on  a  general  average. 
The  editor  of  the  Rural  Annual  considers  it  equal  to 
good  wheat-straw.  Some  others  compute  its  value  to 
be  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  best  oat-straw.  If  we 
take  the  average  value  of  the  straw  of  wheat,  oats, 
barley,  and  rye,  compared  with  hay  as  a  standard,  it 
will  give  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  the  former, 
equal  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  the  latter.  That  is  to 
say,  the  value  of  good  hay  is  three  and  a  half  times 
greater  than  the  mean  value  of  those  straws.  If  this 
ratio  is  taken  to  represent  the  value  of  the  corn-cob,  as 
compared  with  that  of  hay,  the  estimate  would  seem  to 
be,  at  least,  a  reasonable  approximation  to  the  truth. 

NUTRITIVE  YALUE  OF  CORN  AND  COB  MEAL. — If  we 
now  calculate  the  value  of  the  grain,  by  referring  it  to 
the  same  standard,  we  shall  then  be  able  to  see  how  the 
cob  compares  in  value  with  the  corn,  and  also  to  de- 
termine the  value  of  the  corn  and  cob  meal,  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  hay. 

The  grain  of  Indian  corn  has  been  variously  rated 
as  to  its  actual  worth  for  feeding.  This  must  neces- 
sarily depend,  in  some  measure,  upon  the  animal  to 
which  it  is  fed,  and  in  part  upon  the  object  for  which 
it  is  given.  Its  general  nutritive  value,  according  to 
Prof.  Johnston,  as  indicated  by  experiments  made  by 
different  persons  in  different  countries,  is  to  that  of 
hay  as  one  to  two  ;  five  pounds  of  it  being  given  as 
equal  to  ten  pounds  of  hay.  But  when  the  object  is 
to  produce  beef,  butter,  mutton,  or  pork,  its  effective 
9 


194  INDIAN  CORN. 

value  is  very  much  greater.  Three  pounds  of  corn, 
and  even  less,  have  not  unfrequently  produced  a 
pound  of  pork ;  and  for  making  mutton,  it  is  said  to 
be  even  more  effective  than  this. 

On  the  whole,  the  feeding  value  of  this  grain, 
when  used  for  the  purpose  of  converting  it  into  any 
of  the  ahove  products,  will  perhaps  be  fairly  repre- 
sented by  taking  forty  pounds  of  it,  and  when  used  for 
other  purposes,  fifty  pounds,  as  equivalent  to  one 
hundred  pounds  of  hay.  This  will  give  a  mean  ratio 
of  forty-five  pounds  of  corn  to  represent  one  hundred 
pounds  of  hay.  But  to  render  the  estimate  free  from 
any  reasonable  doubt,  let  us  take  forty-eight  pounds 
as  equivalent  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  hay ;  then, 
according  to  the  valuation  given  above  for  the  cob, 
we  shall  have : 

Lbs.  of  Hay.  Lbs.  of  Corn.  Lbs.  of  Cob. 

100  =  48  =  350 

There  are,  therefore,  in  one  thousand  Ibs.  of  corn 
and  cob  meal : 

Lbs.  Lbs. 

Ground  Corn 800     =     1,666  of  hay. 

Ground  Cob 200     =         57      " 

Corn  and  Cob  Meal 1.000     =   1,723 

From  this  comparison  it  appears  that  the  value  of 
corn  and  cob  meal  is  seventy-two  per  cent,  greater 
than  that  of  hay,  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable 
that  further  experience,  and  more  systematic  experi- 
ments in  feeding,  will  show,  what  some  already  be- 
lieve, that  its  true  value  is  higher  than  this. 


THE  STALK  CROP.  195 

Philosophy  teaches  us  that  things,  apparently  triv- 
ial in  themselves,  sometimes  derive  from  circum- 
stances a  consequence  unperceived  by  the  casual  ob- 
server. Some  idea  associated  with  quantity  or  num- 
bers, some  relation  to  a  system  or  class,  some  fact  il- 
lustrating an  undeveloped  possibility ;  these,  or  similar 
causes,  frequently  rescue  from  insignificance  an  object 
deemed  useless  or  paltry,  and  invest  it  with  an  unsus- 
pected interest,  dignity,  or  value. 

The  farmer  who  casts  out  the  corn-cob  from  his 
crib,  as  a  thing  utterly  worthless,  and  fit  only  to  be 
trodden  to  the  earth,  is  probably  unconscious  of  the 
utility  it  is  capable  of,  and  still  less  aware  of  the  ex- 
tent and  value  of  the  class  it  represents ;  little  sus- 
pecting that  the  corn-cobs  raised  every  year  in  the 
United  States,  contain  a  sufficient  amount  of  nutri- 
ment to  winter  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  cat- 
tle, and  are  worth  in  the  aggregate  not  less  than  fif- 
teen million  dollars. 

NUTRITIVE  YALTJE  OF  CORN  AND  COB  MEAL  COM- 
BINED WITH  CHAFFED  STALKS. — Let  us  now  examine 
the  economical  value  of  the  feed  we  have  been  con- 
sidering, when  further  combined,  as  it  frequently  is, 
with  the  stover  of  corn  finely  chaffed.  Let  us  take 
the  three  several  products  of  the  corn  crop — the  grain, 
the  cob,  and  the  stalk — and  suppose  them  to  be  com- 
bined in  the  same  proportions  in  which  Nature  pro- 
duces them. 

We  will  take,  for  illustration,  the  product  of  one 
acre,  assuming  the  yield  to  be  one  hundred  bushels 
of  grain,  at  fifty- six  pounds  to  the  bushel.  The  pro- 


196  INDIAN   CORN. 

portion  of  stalks  will  be  about  one  ton  to  each  twenty- 
five  bushels  of  grain,  and  the  weight  of  the  cob  is 
one-quarter  of  the  weight  of  the  grain.  We  shall 
therefore  have,  as  the  product  of  the  acre,  the  follow- 
ing amount  of  feed : 

Grain 5,600  Ibs. 

Cob 1,400 

Com  and  Cob  Meal T,000 

Stalks 8,000 

Total  product  of  the  acre 15,000 

ISTow  by  comparing  these  with  the  same  standard 
of  value  as  before,  the  stover  being  equal  to  its  weight 
of  hay,  and  the  meal  being  equivalent  to  seventy-two 
per  cent,  more  than  its  own  weight  of  hay,  we  shall 
find  the  feeding  value  of  the  acre  of  corn  to  be  as 
follows : 

Lbs.  Lbs. 

Corn  and  Cob  Meal 7,000     =     12,040  of  hay. 

Chopped  stalks 8,000     =      8,000 


Total  amount  of  feed 15,000     =     20,040 

With  some  varieties  of  corn,  however,  the  propor- 
tion of  stover  would  be  less  than  the  above  estimate. 
Taking  the  product  of  stalks,  for  such  cases,  at  three 
tons  instead  of  four,  the  total  amount  of  feed  would 
be  thirteen  thousand  pounds — equal  to  eighteen  thou- 
sand and  forty  pounds  of  hay.  In  one  case,  then, 
we  have  nine  tons  of  hay,  and  in  the  other  case  ten 
tons,  as  the  measure  of  the  feeding  value  of  one  acre 
of  corn. 


THE   STALK  CEOP.  197 

In  every  instance  where  this  feed  is  employed  for 
the  purpose  of  being  converted  into  beef,  mutton, 
butter,  etc.,  the  effective  value  of  the  grain  is  greater 
than  we  have  estimated  it,  and  will  give  a  higher  re- 
sult. If  the  entire  product  of  the  above  acre  were 
used  for  fattening  purposes,  the  aggregate  feeding 
value  would  be  from  two  to  three  tons  higher  than 
the  estimate  here  given. 

It  will  perhaps  be  said  by  some,  that  one  hundred 
bushels  of  corn  per  acre  is  an  uncommon  yield,  quite 
out  of  the  ordinary  range,  and  that  most  farmers 
therefore  would  not  be  able  to  realize  the  above  re- 
sult. From  this  opinion,  or  rather  from  the  inference 
in  the  last  clause,  we  must  beg  leave  to  differ.  "We 
do  not  believe  that  there  is  a  farmer  in  the  United 
States  who  is  not  able  to  raise  one  hundred  bushels  of 
corn  per  acre.  He  may  lack  the  knowledge,  or  the 
resolute  purpose,  and  there  are  many  who  lack  both. 
But  where  these  are  both  present,  the  ability  is  not 
wanting. 

The  farmer  who  makes  up  his  mind  to  raise  one 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  on  an  acre,  will  generally  do 
it.  He  who  begins  by  saying  he  is  "  not  able,"  will 
certainly  not  do  it.  He  will  take  good  care  to  keep 
his  word.  Such  men  are  usually  very  tender  of  their 
veracity.  Those  who  are  continually  proclaiming  to 
the  world,  when  any  thing  comes  up  to  be  done,  that 
they  are  "  not  able  "  to  do  it,  have  invariably  one  ad- 
vantage. They  require  no  logic  to  prove  their  asser- 
tion. The  world  is  always  ready  to  believe  them. 


198  INDIAN   CORN. 

"  Not  able  "  is  indeed  a  mischievous  phrase,  that 
has  done  much  harm  in  society  as  well  as  in  agricul- 
ture. The  peculiarity  of  the  evil  is,  that  the  want  of 
faith  produces  the  inability.  The  assertion,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  creates  the  fact,  and  makes  that  virtually 
true  which  was  not  true  before.  This  phrase  is  the 
enemy  of  the  farmer,  and  should  be  pursued  and  ex- 
terminated with  the  same  zeal  that  he  employs  in 
pursuing  the  vermin  that  devour  his  crops,  or  the 
weeds  that  infest  his  soil. 

We  repeat,  then,  that  every  farmer  who  chooses 
may  raise  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  and  even  more 
than  this,  upon  an  acre.  How  much  better  he  can 
do  than  this  must  depend  upon  himself.  As  this 
question,  however,  is  considered  in  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter, it  need  not  here  be  dwelt  upon. 

Let  us  now  compare  the  nutritive  value  of  corn 
per  acre  with  that  of  some  other  leading  crops,  taking 
the  yield  of  the  latter  on  the  same  scale  as  the  above 
yield  of  corn.  It  will  probably  be  conceded  that 
sixty  bushels  of  wheat,  ninety  bushels  of  oats,  fifteen 
tons  of  potatoes,  and  twenty  tons,  on  an  average,  for 
other  root  crops,  per  acre,  would  be  at  least  as  large 
a  yield  in  proportion  for  these  crops  as  one  hundred 
bushels  would  be  for  corn. 

By  referring  the  nutritive  value  of  these  several 
products  to  the  same  standard  as  before,  which  was 
good  meadow  hay,  it  will  be  found  that  the  wheat 
crop,  as  compared  with  corn,  yields  about  one-half 
the  amount  of  nutritive  value  per  acre ;  the  oat  crop 
still  less  than  the  wheat;  the  potato  about  threer 


THE  STALK  CHOP.  199 

fourths  the  amount  of  corn,  and  the  other  root  crops 
less  than  the  potato. 

To  state  the  comparison  more  definitely,  it  would 
be  very  nearly  as  follows : 

Nutritive  value  of  Wheat,  per  acre  =  10,000  Ibs.  of  hay. 

«            «        Oats,          "  =  9,000 

«            "        Potatoes    "  =  15,000 

"            "        other  root  crops  =  14,000 

"           "        Corn,  per  acre  =  20,000 


LIBKAH  i 

OF 


COST  OF  PKODUCTIOK 

THIS  is  a  subject  of  vital  interest  to  the  cultivator. 
It  is  indeed  the  great  practical  question  in  husbandry, 
to  which  all  others  are  justly  considered  subordinate. 
When  the  farmer  has  harvested  his  crop,  it  is  his  first 
concern  to  know  what  every  bushel  of  grain  has  cost 
him.  Whether  his  yield  is  fifty  bushels  per  acre,  or 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  is  doubtless  a  matter  of  some 
consequence,  and  one  which  he  is  likely  to  under- 
stand ;  but  whether  it  has  cost  him  twenty-five  cents 
a  bushel,  or  seventy-five  cents,  is  a  matter  of  still 
higher  moment,  and  a  question  far  too  important  to 
be  settled  upon  any  principle  of  guess-work,  as  it  too 
frequently  is. 

To  be  accurately  posted  on  this  point  is  neither 
impossible  nor  difficult,  and  is  moreover  quite  indis- 
pensable to  the  success  of  the  farmer  as  a  business 
man.  Though  a  large  yield  of  corn,  nay,  even  the 
largest  yield  of  his  town  or  county,  is  to  every  enter- 
prising cultivator  an  object  of  commendable  ambi- 
tion ;  yet,  when  the  object  is  achieved,  the  value  to 
him  of  such  yield  depends,  after  all,  upon  what  it  has 


COST  OF   PEODUCTION.  201 

cost  him,  and  not  merely  this,  but  also  upon  his  know- 
ing the  cost.  In  fact,  without  this  knowledge,  all  the 
business  of  his  farm  is  at  loose  ends,  and  all  the  oper- 
ations he  embarks  in  are  involved  in  uncertainty. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  the  cost  of  producing 
this  crop  must  necessarily  exhibit  a  marked  diversity 
in  different  sections  of  the  country,  and  this  is  espe- 
cially noticeable  in  comparing  the  expenses  of  corn- 
culture  at  the  East  with  those  of  the  West.  But 
there  are  also  other  causes  of  difference,  so  numerous 
and  pervading,  that  it  is  a  rare  circumstance  to  find 
any  two  estimates  in  all  respects  alike,  even  in  the 
same  section  or  neighborhood. 

For  the  purpose  of  comparison  and  reference,  we 
here  submit  a  few  statements  and  estimates  relating 
to  the  expense  of  corn-culture  in  the  various  sections 
of  the  country  that  have  been  reported  during  the 
past  two  decades. 

In  the  Transactions  of  the  New  York  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  for  1848,  Levi  T.  Marshall,  of  Oneida 
County,  is  reported  to  have  raised  eighty-seven  bush- 
els per  acre,  on  two  acres  of  ground,  at  a  cost  of  sev- 
enteen and  three-fourths  cents  per  bushel,  making  the 
expense  per  acre  equal  to  fifteen  dollars  and  forty-four 
cents. 

A  farmer  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  at  a 
later  date,  reports  the  cost  of  his  crop  to  the  Country 
Gentleman  at  twenty-seven  cents  per  bushel,  and  six- 
teen dollars  and  sixty-six  cents  per  acre. 

Another  farmer,  of  Shelburne,  Mass.,  in  a  commu- 
nication to  the  same  journal,  states  that  the  cost  of 
9* 


202  INDIAN   CORN. 

his  crop  was  twenty-three  cents  per  bushel  for  the 
grain,  being  at  the  rate  of  twelve  dollars  and  thirty- 
six  cents  per  acre. 

Mr.  Dickerman,  of  Conn.,  reports  to  the  Agricul- 
turist a  crop  of  one  thousand  bushels,  raised  at  an 
expense  of  about  six  hundred  dollars,  which  is  sixty 
cents  per  bushel,  the  expense  per  acre  being  about 
twenty-six  dollars. 

H.  S.  Senter,  of  Mercer  County,  111.,  writes  to  the 
same  journal  that  his  crop  of  one  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  forty  bushels  was  raised  at  an  expense  of 
ninety-one  dollars,  which  is  less  than  seven  cents  per 
bushel. 

Mr.  Walker,  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  gives  the  expense 
of  a  crop  raised  by  himself  at  forty-nine  and  three- 
fifths  cents  per  bushel,  or  twenty-four  dollars  and 
eighty  cents  per  acre. 

Jonathan  Roberts,  of  Montgomery  County,  Penn., 
has  calculated  the  expense  of  his  maize  crop  at  nine- 
teen dollars  per  acre,  and  thirty -one  and  two-thirds 
cents  per  bushel. 

In  Mr.  Colman's  Report  to  the  Legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts he  gives  two  crops  from  the  same  town, 
showing  a  very  wide  difference  in  the  expense  of  rais- 
ing them  ;  the  one  costing  nineteen  cents  per  bushel, 
and  the  other  fifty-seven  cents.  In  this  case  one 
farmer  paid  three  times  as  much  per  bushel  for  his 
corn  as  the  other. 

A  crop  raised  in  Deerfield  is  quoted  in  the  same 
report  as  costing  twenty-two  dollars  and  sixty-seven 
cents  per  acre,  and  forty-five  and  one-third  cents  per 


COST  OF   PRODUCTION.  203 

bushel;  and  another  crop  in  Shelburne  is  given  at 
thirty-five  dollars  and  seventy-seven  cents  per  acre, 
and  fifty-one  cents  per  bushel. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Prairie  Farmer  reports  a 
crop  in  "Warren  County,  111.,  of  four  thousand  bushels, 
that  cost  from  nine  to  ten  cents  per  bushel  of  ears. 

In  a  report  recently  made  to  the  Whately  and 
Deerfield  Farmers'  Club,  Mass.,  Edward  C.  Parker  is 
stated  to  have  produced  a  crop  of  corn  at  a  cost  of 
forty-two  and  a  half  cents  per  bushel.  In  this  case 
the  net  profit  per  acre  was  eighty-three  dollars  and 
forty-four  cents,  the  grain  being  estimated  at  one 
dollar  per  bushel,  and  the  stover  at  ten  dollars  per 
ton. 

In  the  same  report,  the  crop  of  Charles  Hagar  is 
given  at  a  cost  of  forty-three  and  a  half  cents  per 
bushel.  The  profit  per  acre  was  here  fifty  dollars ; 
the  price  of  the  corn  and  stover  being  the  same  as 
above.  These  were  prize  crops,  the  former  taking 
the  first  and  the  latter  the  second  premium.* 

In  the  statements  here  presented  the  expense  per 
acre,  as  far  as  given,  averages  twenty-one  dollars  and 
fifty-eight  cents.  The  cost  per  bushel  ranges  from 
seven  cents  to  sixty  cents,  giving  an  average  of  thirty- 
two  cents. 


*  In  these  two  cases  the  cost  of  each  crop  was  calculated  without 
deducting  the  value  of  the  stalks.  But  the  latter  is  the  method  of  esti- 
mating more  generally  practised.  Had  the  value  of  the  stalks  been 
here  deducted  from  the  expense,  the  cost  per  bushel  would  have  been 
very  much  less.  In  the  former  case  it  would  have  been  twenty-four 
cents  per  bushel,  and  in  the  latter  nineteen  cents. 


INDIAN  CORN. 

In  one  of  the  Annual  Eeports  of  the  Patent  Office 
is  a  series  of  statements  from  farmers  in  nearly  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  in  which  the  estimated  cost  per 
bushel  ranged  from  seven  cents  in  Iowa  to  seventy- 
five  cents  in  Massachusetts,  making  an  average  of 
about  twenty-seven  cents  per  bushel.  If  we  combine 
this  with  the  above  average  of  thirty-two  cents,  it  will 
make  a  general  average  of  about  thirty  cents  per 
bushel,  which  is  probably  not  far  from  the  true  cost 
of  production  for  Indian  corn  in  the  United  States 
during  a  period  extending  over  the  last  twenty  years. 

The  extreme  figures  between  which  this  average 
lies  are  seven  cents  in  Illinois  and  Iowa,  and  seventy  - 
five  cents  in  Massachusetts.  Probably  the  actual  dif- 
ference between  the  two  sections  of  the  country  would 
be  fairly  stated  if  we  should  call  the  average  cost  of 
production  in  the  Western  States  fifteen  to  twenty 
cents  per  bushel,  and  in  the  Eastern  States  thirty-five 
cents. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  marked  difference  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  in  regard  to  the  expense  of 
raising  corn,  is  perhaps  compensated,  if  not  more  than 
this,  by  the  difference  in  the  market  value  of  the  grain. 

But  let  us  look  a  little  more  closely  into  this  ques- 
tion of  cost  of  production,  to  discover  whether  it  is 
possible  to  reduce  it  below  the  present  average,  and 
if  so,  by  what  means.  A  careful  investigation  of  the 
subject  will  perhaps  make  it  appear  that  the  true 
method  of  reducing  the  cost  per  bushel  of  Indian 
corn  is  to  be  found  in  increasing  rather  than  diminish- 
ing the  expense  per  acre,  provided  this  is  done  on 


COST  OF   PEODUCTION.  205 

sound  principles,  and  with  good  judgment.  In  other 
words,  the  farmer  who  adopts  the  best  methods  of  cul- 
ture will  discover  that,  as  a  general  rule,  and  up  to  a 
certain  limit,  the  more  he  pays  out  per  acre  for  extra 
culture  and  fertilization,  the  more  grain  he  will  get 
back,  and  the  less  will  be  the  cost  per  bushel. 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  work  that  must  be 
done  upon  each  acre  of  ground,  before  any  grain 
whatever  can  be  produced.  A  certain  amount  of  ex- 
pense is  inevitable  for  even  the  lowest  rate  of  produc- 
tion. Let  us,  then,  endeavor  to  ascertain  this  lowest 
limit  of  expense  per  acre. 

No  farmer  attempts  to  raise  a  crop  of  maize  with- 
out ploughing  the  ground,  at  least  once.  His  land 
has  then  to  be  marked  out  and  planted,  and  when  the 
grain  is  ripe,  the  crop  is  harvested  and  stored.  This 
may  be  considered  the  lowest  stage  of  corn-culture  in 
which  there  is  no  manure  employed  and  no  after- 
tillage.  The  items  of  expense,  in  this  case,  would 
probably  be,  on  an  average,  as  follows : 

Ploughing $2  00 

Marking,  planting,  and  seed 2  00 

Harvesting 3  00 

Kent 5  00 

$12  00 

These  figures  are  of  course  variable,  according  to 
locality  and  other  circumstances,  but  will  be  found  on 
an  average  very  nearly  as  stated. 

The  yield  of  the  above  acre  must,  of  necessity,  be 
very  low,  and  cannot  safely  be  estimated  at  more  than 


206  INDIAN   CORN. 

fifteen  bushels.  The  stalks,  according  to  the  ratio  be- 
fore given,  would  amount  to  three-fifths  of  a  ton, 
which,  at  six  dollars  *  per  ton,  would  be  three  dollars 
and  sixty  cents.  We  should  then  have  the  following 
result : 

Total  expense  of  one  acre $12  00 

Deduct  value  of  stalks 3  60 

Cost  of  fifteen  bushels  of  Grain $8  40 

which  makes  the  cost  per  bushel  fifty-six  cents. 

This  estimate  includes  only  those  items  of  expense 
that  are  unavoidable.  The  other  usual  expenses  of 
corn-culture,  including  harrowing,  cross-ploughing, 
after-tillage,  manure,  etc.,  are  all  optional.  Now  here, 
in  these  optional  expenses,  is  precisely  where  the  profit 
lies. 

The  farmer  has  in  this  case  paid  out  twelve  dol- 
lars to  bring  his  acre  up  to  the  point  where  production 
begins.  After  that,  every  dollar  judiciously  added 
goes  straight  to  the  mark,  and  tells  powerfully  on  the 
yield.  The  outlay  of  twelve  dollars  he  is  compelled 
to  incur,  before  he  realizes  a  single  kernel,  and 
whether  he  gets  five  bushels  or  fifty.  The  other  ex- 
penses are  discretionary  and  variable,  and  what  is 
most  important  the  crop  varies  with  them,  and  can 
only  be  increased  by  increasing  them,  or  some  part 
of  them. 

*  This  is  much  too  low  for  the  true  value  of  good  stalks  ;  but  as 
there  are  always  some  farmers  who  insist  on  computing  their  stover  at 
half  its  real  worth,  it  is  perhaps  as  well  to  adapt  the  illustration  to 
then-  standard. 


COST  OF   PRODUCTION.  207 

To  illustrate  this,  let  us  take  the  same  acre,  and 
superadd  the  following  treatment:  Let  the  ground  be 
cross-ploughed  and  harrowed  before  planting,  and  let 
the  crop  be  twice  cultivated  during  its  growth.  The 
whole  expense  would  then  foot  up  as  follows,  allowing 
for  a  slight  addition  to  the  cost  of  harvesting  : 

Ploughing  twice  and  harrowing $4  50 

Marking,  planting,  and  seed 2  00 

After-culture,  twice  through 4  00 

Harvesting 3  50 

Rent 5  00 

$19  00 

The  yield  in  this  instance,  with  ordinary  care, 
would  probably  reach  thirty-five  or  forty  bushels ;  but 
may  safely  be  assumed  at  thirty  bushels.  The  stalks 
would,  in  that  case,  amount  to  one  and  one-fifth  tons, 
which,  at  the  value  above  stated,  would  be  worth  seven 
dollars  and  twenty  cents,  giving  the  following  result : 

Total  expense  of  crop $19  00 

Deduct  value  of  stalks T  20 

Cost  of  30  bushels  of  grain $11  80 

bringing  the  cost  per  bushel  to  thirty-nine  cents  and 
a  fraction. 

We  will  now  suppose  this  acre  to  be  cultivated  in 
a  more  expensive  manner,  by  increasing  the  amount 
of  tillage  and  adding  manure,  making  the  entire  cost 
as  follows : 


20  50 


208  INDIAN   CORN. 

Previous  expense $19  00 

To  which  add: 

Manure. ...... .... . $16  00 

Subsoiling 3  00 

Extra  harrowing. 1  00 

Increased  expenses  of  harvesting 50 

Total  expense  of  crop .- .'. . $39  50 

Taking  the  yield  of  this  crop  at  an  average  proba- 
bility, it  could  scarcely  be  less  than  seventy-five  or 
eighty  bushels.  But  calling  it  seventy  bushels,  this 
would  give  two  and  four-fifth  tons  of  stover,  worth 
sixteen  dollars  and  eighty  cents. 

From  the  above  expense  is  to  be  deducted,  not 
merely  the  value  of  the  stalks,  but  also  one-half  the 
outlay  for  manure  and  for  subsoiling,  as  the  effect  of 
these  is  not  limited  to  a  single  season,  but  extends  to 
successive  crops.  The  net  result,  therefore,  of  this 
crop  will  be  as  follows : 

Total  expense $39  50 

From  which  deduct  half  the  cost  of  manure  and 

sub-soiling 9  50 

$30  00 
From  this  deduct  value  of  stalks 16  80 

Cost  of  TO  bushels  of  grain $13  20 

which  makes  the  cost  per  bushel  about  nineteen 
cents. 

JSTow,  on  comparing  the  results  of  these  three  crops 
from  the  same  acre,  we  find  that  by  increasing  the 
expense  of  cultivation,  the  cost  per  bushel  is  reduced 
successively  from  fifty-six  cents  to  thirty-nine  cents  and 
nineteen  cents.  This  reasoning  is  of  course  theoreti- 


COST  OF  PRODUCTION.  209 

cal,  but  if  the  figures  assumed  are  reasonable  and  con- 
sistent with  experience,  it  carries  with  it  the  force  of 
great  probability. 

By  extending  the  illustration  still  further,  we 
should  find  that  the  cost  of  production  would  be  re- 
duced yet  lower.  If,  for  instance,  in  the  crop  last 
given,  the  amount  of  manure  were  doubled,  and  the 
after-culture  again  repeated,  the  probable  yield  on  a 
fair  soil  with  good  management  would  not  be  less 
than  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  which  would 
bring  the  cost  per  bushel  to  sixteen  cents. 

On  comparing  the  figures  assumed  throughout 
this,  investigation  with  those  of  similar  crops  actually 
raised  and  frequently  reported,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  estimates  above  made  are  entirely  probable,  and 
that  any  reasoning  founded  upon  them  becomes  a  fair 
presumptive  argument. 

In  the  following  table  the  results  of  these  four 
successive  crops  are  brought  together,  omitting  frac- 
tions, for  the  purpose  of  comparison.  The  table  also 
indicates  the  money  value  of  each  crop,  supposing  the 
corn  to  be  worth  seventy-five  cents  per  bushel,  and 
the  stalks  six  dollars  per  ton,  and  it  further  shows 
the  rate  of  profit  per  acre,  per  bushel,  and  on  the  in- 
vestment. 

In  the  second  column  the  net  expense  per  acre  is 
obtained  by  deducting  the  value  of  the  stalks  from  the 
gross  expense.  This  mode  of  estimating  the  cost  of 
corn  is  usually  adopted  by  farmers,  though  not  strictly 
correct. 

In  the  fifth  column  the  money  value  per  acre  in- 
cludes the  value  of  the  grain  and  stalks : 


210 


INDIAN  COEN. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

fn 

o 

g 

Total  expense 
per  acre  . 

Net  expense 
per  acre. 

Cost  per  bush. 

Prod,  per  acre, 
in  bushels. 

ft 

jl 

Profit  per  acre. 

1 

Profit  on  the 
investment. 

1st. 

$12  00 

$S  40 

56  eta. 

15 

$14  85 

$2  85 

19cts. 

23  per  ct 

2d.. 

19  00 

11  80 

89 

30 

29  70 

1070 

36 

56      " 

3d.. 

30  00 

13  20 

19 

70 

69  30 

89  30 

56 

131      " 

4th. 

40  00 

15  00 

16 

100 

9900 

59  00 

59 

147      " 

This  table  is  based  on  plain  and  simple  principles 
of  Husbandry.  But  by  the  use  of  special  manures, 
by  more  elaborate  disintegration  of  the  soil,  and  by 
closer  planting,  which  last  is  only  warranted  with 
copious  manuring  and  deep  pulverization,  a  still 
lower  cost  of  production  might  undoubtedly  be 
reached. 

There  is  a  large  class  of  soils  in  which  all  the 
elements  of  maize  are  to  be  found,  with  the  exception 
of  some  one  or  two  that  hap  pen  to  be  almost  entirely 
absent.  In  every  such  instance  the  application  of 
special  manures,  if  rightly  selected,  is  attended  with 
the  highest  advantage,  not  unfrequently  doubling  the 
yield  at  a  trifling  expense. 

Put  in  order  to  obtain  such  results,  the  soil  must 
be  understood  by  its  owner.  Unless  he  knows  pre- 
cisely which  element  is  wanting,  he  is  very  unlikely 
to  be  successful  in  supplying  it.  If  he  applies  the 
wrong  fertilizer,  he  might  nearly  as  well  apply  none. 
In  either  case,  the  crop  will  hardly  be  worth  gather- 
ing. But  if  he  gives  to  his  land  the  specific  manure 


COST  OF  PRODUCTION.  211 

called  for,  it  not  merely  increases  the  product,  but  it 
makes  all  the  difference  between  a  maximum  and  a 
minimum  yield.  "With  the  wrong  fertilizer  or  with 
none,  the  cost  of  the  grain  would  very  likely  be  a 
dollar  per  bushel,  or  more ;  with  the  right  fertilizer  it 
would  probably  be  ten  cents  per  bushel,  or  less. 

In  all  such  cases  as  this,  and  also  in  every  in- 
stance where  the  soil  is  naturally  and  unusually  rich 
in  corn-elements,  and  in  nearly  all  cases  of  the  highest 
and  best  systern>  of  culture,  the  cost  of  production 
could  probably  be  brought  to  a  lower  figure  than 
the  lowest  in  the  table. 

But  there  are  other  points  in  the  table  that  de- 
serve attention.  By  referring  to  the  second  and 
fourth  columns  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  first  crop  the 
farmer  gets  fifteen  bushels  of  corn  at  a  nut  cost  of 
eight  dollars  and  forty  cents.  In  the  second  crop  he 
gets  the  same,  and  fifteen  bushels  more  for  an  addi- 
tional cost  of  three  dollars  and  forty  cents ;  showing 
that  the  second  fifteen  bushels  cost  him  less  than  half 
the  price  of  the  first.  In  the  third  crop  he  gets  the 
first  thirty  bushels  at  the  same  cost  as  in  the  second, 
and  forty  bushels  more  at  an  additional  cost  of  one 
dollar  and  forty  cents.  In  the  fourth  crop  the  first 
seventy  bushels  cost  him  the  same  as  in  the  third, 
and  he  gets  thirty  bushels  more  for  an  additional  cost 
of  two  dollars  and  eighty  cents. 

It  is  also  worth  while  to  notice  the  ratio  of  increase 
in  the  profit  per  acre,  as  compared  with  the  amount 
invested.  Thus  when  in  the  first  crop  he  invests  twelve 
dollars,  the  profit  on  the  acre  is  but  two  dollars  and 


212  INDIAN  COKN. 

eighty-five  cents.  In  the  second  crop,  by  adding  seven 
dollars  to  the  investment,  the  profit  per  acre  rises  to  ten 
dollars  and  seventy  cents ;  showing  that  while  the  first 
twelve  dollars  earn  twenty-three  per  cent.,  the  next 
seven  dollars  earn  over  one  hundred  per  cent.  In  the 
third  crop,  by  adding  eleven  dollars  more  to  the  invest- 
ment, the  profit  on  the  acre  reaches  thirty-nine  dollars 
and  thirty  cents ;  and  finally,  by  adding,  in  the  fourth 
crop,  ten  dollars  more,  the  profit  per  acre  rises  to 
fifty -nine  dollars. 

It  will  also  be  observed,  by  referring  to  the  eighth 
column,  that  the  rate  of  profit  on  the  capital  em- 
ployed advances  by  a  ratio  no  less  rapid  and  remark- 
able from  twenty-three  per  cent,  to  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  per  cent. 

K"ow  it  is  not  claimed  that  the  illustration  here 
presented  has  all  the  precision  and  certainty  of  a 
mathematical  demonstration.  Yet  it  is  believed  to 
be  a  fair  statement  of  average  results  such  as  would 
occur  in  the  ordinary  practice  of  farmers.  In  assuming 
one  hundred  bushels  as  the  yield  of  the  fourth  crop,  the 
amount  is  doubtless  liable  to  exceptions.  It  would 
not  probably  be  reached  in  an  adverse  season,  nor  on 
a  poor  soil,  and  least  of  all  by  a  slovenly  farmer  who 
is  wiser  than  all  the  books  and  journals.  But  it  is  a 
product  often  obtained  at  a  less  outlay  than  the 
amount  assumed,  and  it  will  scarcely  fail  to  be  equalled 
or  surpassed,  when  this  amount  of  expense  is  rightly 
applied. 

But  there  is  another  contingency  that  is  liable 
to  affect  some  of  the  figures  in  the  above  table,  and 


COST   OF  PKODUCTION. 


213 


which  would  render  them  much  more  striking,  though 
no  less  correct.  When  corn  is  consumed  on  the  farm 
where  it  grows,  it  pays  the  owner  a  better  price  than 
the  market  quotations.  Yery  many  farmers,  by  con- 
verting this  grain  into  pork,  mutton,  beef,  or  butter, 
are  enabled  to  realize  for  it  a  dollar  or  more  per 
bushel,  even  when  it  is  bringing  seventy-five  cents  or 
less  in  market. 

Now,  if  the  price  of  corn  were  taken  at  one  dollar 
in  the  table  instead  of  seventy-five  cents,  the  results, 
or  a  part  of  them,  would  be  not  only  more  remarkable, 
but,  in  a  large  class  of  cases,  nearer  the  truth.  The 
third  and  fourth  crops,  at  this  price,  would  give  the 
following  exhibit : 


I 

I 

1 

it 

1, 

t 

8 

•g 

|, 

o 

M 

|  jj 

&  s 

S, 

s.1 

t>  ^ 

1 

I 

g  I 

Q 

3  P, 

«  2, 

"§  g 

i  & 

« 

« 

*§  > 

H 

*s 

6 

s 

1 

£ 

fl 

8d.. 

$30  00 

$13  20 

19  cts. 

70 

$86  80 

$56  80 

81  cts. 

189  per  ct 

4th. 

40  00 

1600 

16 

100 

12400 

84  00 

84 

210     " 

Perhaps  the  most  instructive  lesson  contained  in 
these  tables  is  to  be  found  in  the  great  principle 
which  stands  out  clear  and  conspicuous,  that  the  last 
part  of  the  yield,  or  the  extra  yield  produced  by  each 
addition  to  the  expense,  is  the  part  that  pays  the  profit. 

This  principle  is  well  understood  and  acted  upon 
in  some  other  branches  of  industry,  and  why  should 
it  not  be  equally  improved  in  husbandry  ?  Publishers 
have  long  since  discovered  that  the  success  of  a  book 


INDIAN  COEN. 

or  magazine  depends  mainly  on  the  excess  of  sales 
"beyond  a  certain  number  of  copies,  and  their  plans 
are  shaped  accordingly. 

Journalists  are  well  aware  that  the  profit  of  their 
business  lies  in  the  last  ten,  or  twenty,  or  fifty  thou- 
sand of  their  circulation.  Hence  any  and  all  means 
by  which  this  vast  circulation  may  be  secured  are 
promptly  and  fearlessly  adopted,  without  regard  to 
expense.  Ingenious  and  costly  expedients  are  em- 
ployed to  swell  the  subscription  list,  and  the  reading 
community  are  reached,  through  every  channel  of 
approach,  with  a  splendid  array  of  inducements  to 
subscribers.  The  catalogue  of  liberal  offers  embraces 
an  endless  variety  of  things  useful  and  ornamental 
which  are  equally  creditable  to  the  taste,  skill,  and 
munificence  of  the  proprietor.  To  furnish  out  the  list 
of  premiums,  the  world  of  art,  and  two  of  the  king- 
doms of  nature,  are  laid  under  contribution.  Seed- 
packages,  gold  pencils,  valuable  barometers,  and  costly 
engravings  are  marshalled  into  the  service  to  enact 
the  part  of  canvassers. 

Some  things  hitherto  applied,  through  ignorance, 
to  mistaken  uses,  have  by  this  means  been  restored  to 
their  proper  functions.  It  has  thus  been  discovered 
that  the  true  and  original  design  of  the  strawberry  is 
to  attract  subscribers  to  the  better  class  of  journals ; 
and  that  sewing-machines,  formerly  supposed  to  be 
useful  in  constructing  garments,  were  mainly  intended 
by  the  inventor  to  guide  the  popular  choice  in  select- 
ing the  best  periodicals. 

All  this  is  doubtless  right  and  proper  in  a  business 


COST  OF   PRODUCTION.  215 

way — a  strictly  legitimate  proceeding,  which  proves 
the  sagacity  of  the  publisher,  who  clearly  compre- 
hends, not  merely  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  first  ten 
thousand  subscribers,  but  the  gilt-edged  value  of  the 
last  fifty  thousand. 

In  like  manner,  and  on  the  same  principle,  the 
clear-headed  and  well-informed  cultivator  will  be 
prompt  to  perceive  and  appreciate,  not  only  the  utility 
of  the  first  twenty  or  thirty  bushels  of  his  corn  crop, 
but  also  and  equally  the  gold-bearing  value  of  the 
last  fifty  or  one  hundred  bushels  which  are  added  to 
the  yield  by  a  slight  increase  in  the  expense  of  culture. 

To  secure  the  latter  yield,  the  farmer  need  not  re- 
sort to  any  costly  means  of  tempting  Nature  into  an 
abnormal  munificence.  She  is  never  wanting  in  gen- 
erosity to  those  who  are  in  true  sympathy  with  her, 
who  study  out  her  laws  and  comply  with  them. 

Instead  of  large  disbursements  for  premium  lists, 
the  farmer  has  only  to  invest  his  spare  dollars  in  im- 
proved implements,  fertilizing  materials,  and  agricul- 
tural journals.  These  are  the  great  agents  and  insurers 
of  successful  husbandry,  and  no  cultivator  of  the  soil 
who  understands  his  interest  will  ever  be  without 
them. 


Llii.u 

UNI  VKKSJTY   ()). 


HOW  TO  OBTAEST  A  LAEGE  YIELD   OF 
COKK 

HAYING  treated  of  the  productive  capacity  of  In- 
dian corn ;  having  shown  by  numerous  instances,  as 
well  as  by  reference  to  natural  laws,  that  it  is  capable 
of  a  more  bountiful  yield  than  is  usually  obtained ; 
and  having  urged  upon  farmers  the  possibility  as  well 
as  the  duty  of  increasing  the  acreable  product  of  this 
grain,  they  will  perhaps  turn  to  the  author  with  the 
natural  inquiry,  "  How  are  these  desirable  yields  to 
be  achieved  ? " 

If  we  refer  them  to  other  pages  of  this  book  where 
general  instructions  on  the  subject  are  laid  down, 
there  are  some  who  will,  perhaps,  insist  that  the  in- 
formation given  is  not  sufficiently  definite,  and  will 
ask  for  more  specific  directions  ;  considering  it  a  mat- 
ter of  course  that  a  work  devoted  to  the  subject  should 
furnish  a  perfect  form  for  each  particular  process,  and 
some  infallible  fertilizer  equally  adapted  to  every  va- 
riety of  soil. 

To  those  who  entertain  this  view  of  the  matter,  a 
book  that  should  prescribe  an  exact  method  of  raising 


HOW   TO  OBTAIN  A   LAEGE   YIELD   OF   CORN.       217 

corn  to  be  mechanically  followed  in  every  case  from 
beginning  to  end,  laying  down  in  detail  each  particu- 
lar step  to  be  taken  without  discretion,  proposing  in 
connection  with  this  a  specific  manure  to  be  used  on 
all  occasions,  and  claiming  that  the  infallible  result 
would  be  a  marvellous  and  unheard-of  yield,  would 
doubtless  prove  attractive,  and  probably  be  hailed  as 
a  useful  work.  But  the  author  of  such  a  book  would 
justly  be  pronounced  a  charlatan,  and  would  deserve 
their  contempt. 

There  are,  probably,  very  few  farmers  in  the  coun- 
try who  do  not  know  that  there  is  not,  and  cannot  be 
any  patent,  labor-saving  process  for  turning  out  two 
or  three  hundred  bushels  of  corn  from  an  acre.  The 
mistake  of  these  men  lies  in  expecting  too  much. 
They  would  have  the  results  without  complying  with 
the  conditions.  They  do  not  seem  to  remember  that 
large  yields  of  corn,  as  of  other  crops,  have  never  yet 
been  stereotyped,  to  be  mechanically  reproduced  at 
will ;  nor  do  they,  on  the  other  hand,  spring  from 
accident  or  neglect.  They  are  the  prizes  which  in- 
dustry, intelligence,  and  skill  carry  away  in  the  face 
of  contingencies,  and  in  spite  of  obstacles. 

If  there  were  indeed  a  new,  easy,  and  infallible 
method  of  raising  corn,  with  all  the  elements  of  un- 
certainty left  out,  promising  large  yields  with  little 
labor  and  less  thought,  and  imposing  no  tax  upon 
either  muscle  or  brain,  we  should  then  see  all  the 
world  turning  farmers,  and  all  the  farmers  growing 
rapidly  rich. 

But,  happily,  the  class  of  men  who  indulge  these 
10 


218  INDIAN   CORN. 

absurd  expectations  are  few  in  number.  The  great 
majority  of  American  agriculturists  are  men  of  sense 
and  reason.  When  they  aim  at  large  returns,  they 
expect  to  make  corresponding  exertion.  When  they 
inquire  how  they  are  to  obtain  a  large  yield,  they  do 
not  imagine  they  can  dispense  with  the  needed  effort. 
What  they  wish  to  know  is,  how  to  secure  a  large 
product  with  reasonable  eifort,  and  at  the  same  time 
make  the  yield  a  profitable  one.  This  is  the  inquiry 
continually  and  everywhere  raised  by  intelligent 
farmers. 

Although  a  general  answer  to  this  inquiry  is  to  be 
found  on  other  pages  of  the  present  work,  yet,  in  view 
of  the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  for  the  sake  of  a 
more  full  illustration,  we  will  endeavor  to  present  an 
answer,  if  possible,  more  definite,  clear,  and  distinct. 

In  every  stage  of  corn  culture,  from  the  first  to  the 
last,  there  is  some  one  method  that  is  better  than  any 
other.  In  the  preparation  of  the  ground  there  are 
many  different  ways  of  proceeding,  but  there  is  only 
one  best  way.  For  enriching  the  soil  there  is  a  nu- 
merous catalogue  of  manures,  and  various  modes  of 
applying  them  ;  but  some  one,  or  a  few  of  them,  are 
better  than  all  the  rest.  The  same  is  true  in  regard 
to  steeping  the  seed.  Also  in  the  distribution  of  the 
grains  at  planting,  as  well  as  in  the  depth  of  covering 
them,  there  is  for  each  a  diversity  of  plans  ;  but  there 
is  one  that  will  give  the  largest  yield.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  after-culture  also  has  its  own  superior  process 
that  is  more  productive  than  any  other. 

When  all  these  preferable  modes  are  ascertained 


HOW  TO   OBTAIN   A   LARGE   YIELD   OF   CORN.       219 

by  the  farmer,  and  blended  together  in  one  system 
of  culture,  they  form  a  comprehensive  BEST  MP;THOD, 
which  embraces  all  the  conditions  of  success,  and 
must,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  give  higher 
results  than  any  other.  But  this  method  is  different 
for  each  different  soil,  and  varies  according  to  other 
varying  circumstances. 

Yet  for  every  farmer  in  the  country,  without  any 
exception,  there  is  such  a  method.  By  means  of  experi- 
mental processes,  elsewhere  explained,  he  can  deter- 
mine these  several  conditions  of  success,  and  in  adopt- 
ing them,  he  adopts  the  true  and  the  only  sure  method. 
If  he  will  take  the  time  and  make  the  effort  necessary 
for  this  purpose,  he  may  acquire  from  such  a  series  of 
experiments  that  knowledge  which  no  other  man  can 
impart  to  him,  and  which  will  enable  him  to  obtain, 
beyond  any  question,  a  maximum  yield  of  corn  at  a 
minimum  cost  per  bushel. 

Let  us  now,  for  illustration,  suppose  the  case  of  a 
farmer  who  has  during  the  past  year  introduced  into 
his  corn  crop  a  sufficient  number  and  variety  of  such 
experiments  to  determine  all  the  points  that  he  needs 
to  know  for  insuring  the  success  of  his  next  crop.  He 
has  ascertained  what  are,  in  his  case  and  for  his  soil, 
the  most  certain  and  productive  processes,  and  is 
therefore  prepared  to  lay  out  his  plan  for  the  ensuing 
year. 

If  you  interrogate  him  on  the  subject,  he  speaks 
with  confidence,  and  not  with  the  tone  of  a  man  who 
is  guessing,  or  groping  in  the  dark.  If  you  ask  him 
how  he  is  going  to  proceed,  and  his  reason  for  each 


220  INDIAN   CORN. 

process,  his  answers  are  not  vague  and  hesitating,  but 
prompt  and  definite.  He  has  worked  out  his  ~best 
method  with  hand  and  brain,  and  realizes  that  he  is 
master  of  the  situation.  We  will  now  suppose  him 
to  describe,  as  follows,  his  plan  of  operations  for  the 
year  to  come,  as  deduced  from  his  experience  in  the 
year  past  : 

"  In  preparing  the  ground  for  my  next  year's  corn 
crop,"  is  his  language,  "  I  shall  commence  in  the  fall 
by  ploughing  to  the  depth  of  ten  inches,  following  the 
surface-plough  with  the  subsoiler  as  deeply  as  it  can 
be  made  to  go.  That  ten  inches  is  the  right  depth 
for  my  soil  I  have  clearly  proved,  and  the  utility  of 
subsoiling  was  shown  last  season  by  its  increasing  the 
yield  more  than  thirty  per  cent. 

"  After  the  ground  is  thus  ploughed,  I  shall  apply 
a  moderate  top-dressing,  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre,  of  lime 
and  unleached  ashes  mixed  in  equal  proportions. 
After  having  brought  my  land  to  this  stage  of  prepa- 
ration in  the  fall,  I  shall  then  resign  it  for  the  winter 
season  to  those  ever-useful  and  unfailing  friends  of 
the  husbandman,  the  frost  and  rain,  the  storm,  the 
sunshine,  and  the  brooding  snow.  "While  the  farmer 
wears  away  the  hours  of  winter  in  recreation  or  re- 
pose, these  friendly  agents  will  do  his  work  with  tire- 
less industry,  subduing  and  meliorating  the  soil  with 
a  magic  effect  '  beyond  the  reach  of  art,'  and  their 
useful  work  will  be  all  the  better  done,  and  the  more 
effectual,  in  consequence  of  the  aid  previously  ren- 
dered by  the  plough  and  the  subsoiler. 

"  In  the  spring,  before  planting,  I  shall  again  ap- 


HOW   TO   OBTAIN   A  LARGE   YIELD   OF   CORN.       221 

ply  the  surface-plough  one  inch  deeper  than  be- 
fore, to  be  followed  again  with  the  subsoiler.  I 
shall  next  apply  twenty  loads  to  the  acre  of  stable 
manure,  previously  sprinkled  with  brine.  This  appli- 
cation is  to  be  immediately  turned  under  with  a  shal- 
low plough,  and  thoroughly  harrowed  into  the  soil. 
My  seed  before  planting  will  be  steeped  twenty-four 
hours  in  a  weak  solution  of  hen  manure  and  chloride 
of  lime.  I  shall  then  plant  my  corn,  which  is  the 
King  Philip  variety,  in  drills  three  feet  apart,  with 
the  grains  eight  inches  asunder,  covering  the  corn  to 
the  depth  of  two  inches. 

"  In  the  drills  along  with  the  grain  is  to  be  ap- 
plied a  fertilizer,  prepared  by  adding  together  two 
parts  of  leached  ashes,  three  parts  of  the  flour  of  bone, 
and  five  parts  of  well-rotted  stable  manure.  After 
the  corn  is  fairly  up,  I  shall  apply  a  moderate  dressing 
of  ashes,  plaster,  and  lime.  For  the  after-culture  I 
shall  use  the  horse-hoe  and  hand-cultivator  often 
enough  to  keep  the  soil  well  aerated,  and  to  prevent 
the  growth  of  weeds.  As  the  ground  before  planting 
will  be  thoroughly  pulverized,  the  plough  will  not  be 
required  in  the  after-culture. 

"  This  is  the  course  that  has  been  clearly  pointed 
out  to  me  by  my  experience  of  the  past  year.  All 
the  details  of  this  plan  were  indicated  and  proved  to 
~be  the  best  ~by  the  results  of  my  experimental  crop.  I 
therefore  accept  the  plan  without  hesitation.  I  do 
not  know  that  it  would  be  the  best  method  for  my 
neighbor,  with  a  different  soil,  but  I  am  sure  that  it 
is  the  best  for  me.  In  examining  and  comparing  the 


222  INDIAN   CORN. 

results  of  my  experiments  last  fall,  I  found  that  in 
that  portion  of  the  field  where  all  these  conditions  met 
together,  the  yield  was  equal  to  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty bushels  per  acre  of  grain,  and  the  stover  was  at 
the  rate  of  over  five  tons,  surpassing,  by  nearly  thirty 
per  cent.,  any  other  results  of  the  experimental  crop. 

"  ISFow,  seeing  that  I  shall  adopt  for  the  coming 
year,  the  precise  method  that  gave  this  yield,  apply- 
ing it  also  to  the  same  soil,  thus  complying  with  all 
the  conditions  exacted  by  the  laws  of  Nature,  I  con- 
sider that,  with  a  propitious  season,  there  is  a  fair 
probability  of  reaching  the  same  amount  again.  If, 
however,  I  succeed  in  getting  one  hundred  and  fifty 
bushels,  I  shall  be  well  paid  and  well  satisfied. 

"  I  have  ascertained,  by  experiments  in  feeding, 
that  there  is  a  way  to  convert  my  corn-stalks  into 
milk,  cheese,  butter,  and  beef,  so  as  to  realize  for  them 
over  ten  dollars  a  ton ;  and  my  corn,  by  the  same 
best  method  of  feeding,  can  be  turned  into  pork  or 
beef,  so  as  to  bring  on  an  average  over  one  dollar  a 
bushel.  I  find,  on  computing  the  expense  per  acre  of 
this  method,  that  it  amounts  to  fifty  dollars,  after  de- 
ducting one-half  the  cost  of  the  manure,  and  one- 
half  the  expense  of  subsoiling,  both  to  be  charged  to 
future  crops." 

This  is  supposed  to  be  the  language  of  a  farmer 
applying  the  knowledge  deduced  from  his  experi- 
ments, to  guide  him  in  his  future  operations.  There 
is  in  his  statements  nothing  unreasonable,  extrava- 
gant, or  impossible.  The  case  assumed  not  only  illus- 
trates the  general  principle,  but  fairly  represents  the 


HOW  TO   OBTAIN  A  LAKGE   YIELD   OF   COKN.      223 

results  that  would  probably  be  derived  in  a  majority 
of  instances  from  pursuing  a  system  of  best  methods. 
But  let  us  now  compute  the  cost  per  bushel  of  this 
crop.  The  yield  would  probably  be  one  hundred  and 
fifty  bushels  per  acre,  as  estimated.  It  might  be 
more,  it  might  be  less.  To  meet  varying  possibilities, 
we  will  take  several  estimates,  viz. :  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  bushels,  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels, 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  bushels.  The  product 
of  stalks  for  these  yields  would  be  from  five  tons  up- 
ward. Taking  the  lowest  rate,  it  would  be  five  tons. 
The  amount  assumed  as  the  expense  of  the  crop,  fifty 
dollars,  is  probably  what  it  would  be  on  an  average. 
We  should  then  have  the  following  result : 

Cost  of  crop $50  00 

Deduct  5  tons  of  stalks  (at  $6  per  ton) 30  00 

$20  00 

This  would  make  the  cost  of  production,  omitting 
fractions : 

For  a  yield  of  125  bushels,  equal  to 16c.  per  bushel. 

For  a  yield  of  150  bushels,      =     13c.  per  bushel. 

For  a  yield  of  165  bushels,      =     12c.  per  bushel. 

There  may  be  those  who  will  differ  in  opinion  as 
to  this  estimate.  One  will  perhaps  say  that  the  quan- 
tity of  manure  is  not  sufficient  to  account  for  such  a 
product ;  another,  that  the  planting  is  too  close  to 
give  such  a  yield  of  grain,  etc.  But  certainly  a 
method,  comprising  half  a  score  of  different  processes 
and  conditions,  cannot  fairly  be  judged  by  any  one 
of  them  considered  separately.  The  yield  is  not  the 


224:  INDIAN   COEN. 

result  of  any  one  element  in  the  plan,  but  the  joint 
product  of  the  whole  of  them.  Moreover,  each  part 
of  the  plan  is  adapted  to  all  the  other  parts,  and  the 
whole  together  are  adapted  to  a  particular  sojl.  The 
method  and  the  soil  are  the  counterparts  of  each 
other,  and  the  highest  capability  of  each  is  only  de- 
veloped when  they  are  brought  together. 

The  above  method  with  a  different  soil  might  be 
entirely  inadequate  to  such  a  yield — might  even  be  a 
total  failure ;  and  the  soil,  whatever  its  merit  in  this 
connection,  might,  under  a  different  treatment,  give  a 
very  uncertain  result.  But  when  the  method  and  the 
soil  are  perfectly  fitted  to  each  other  like  dove-tailed 
joinery,  or  like  the  wheels  and  grooves  of  machinery, 
it  would  seem  as  if  results  larger  than  these  might 
easily  follow. 

When  the  conductor  of  an  electrical  machine  is 
highly  charged,  you  may  apply  a  hundred  different 
objects  to  it,  and  none  of  them  is  qualified  to  extract 
the  fluid.  But  there  are  substances  in  nature  pre- 
cisely fitted  to  produce  this  effect,  and  the  moment 
you  apply  one  of  these  the  spark  flies,  and  the  fluid 
is  given  up.  So  when  the  farmer  applies  to  his  soil 
the  method  that  is  exactly  suited  and  congenial,  it 
surrenders  its  prolific  virtue  with  an  exuberance  be- 
fore latent  and  unsuspected. 

Now  there  are  some  soils  which,  without  any  ma- 
nure whatever,  are  capable  of  yielding,  and  with  deep 
and  thorough  culture  have  yielded,  over  one  hundred 
bushels  per  acre.  It  seems,  then,  reasonable  to  infer 
that  if  such  a  method  as  the  above  is  applied  to  the 


HOW   TO   OBTAIN   A  LAKGE   YIELD   OF   CORN.       225 

soil  to  which  it  is  precisely  adapted,  to  the  very  soil, 
in  fact,  out  of  which  it  is  created,  it  can  scarcely  pro- 
duce less  than  the  amount  assumed,  and  would  very 
probably  yield  more. 

But  there  are  many  cases  in  which  the  result 
would  be  more  striking  than  that  above  given.  One 
farmer  would  find  his  soil  so  constituted  that  a  less 
amount  of  tillage  than  the  above  would  give  an  equal 
effect,  or  the  same  amount  would  give  a  larger  effect. 
Another  would  find  his  land  so  prolific  by  nature  that 
the  amount  of  fertilization  stated  above  would  give  a 
larger  product  than  that  assigned  to  it.  A  third 
would  find  that  his  soil  lacked  only  one  or  two  ele- 
ments of  fertility,  while  containing  all,  the  rest  in  am- 
ple abundance,  and  that  these  absent  elements  could 
be  added  at  less  than  half  the  expense  of  the  above 
manure.  In  such  cases  as  these,  if  all  the  other  con- 
ditions of  success  were  complied  with,  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction would  be  found  lower  than  in  the  above  esti- 
mate, and  the  yield  larger. 

Thus,  by  a  system  of  unsparing  investigation,  each 
man  perfects  his  own  method,  and  acquires  for  him- 
self all  the  knowledge  essential  to  the  highest  success. 
He  may  derive  valuable  aid  from  books  and  journals, 
from  tables  and  formulas,  from  chemical  analysis,  and 
from  all  the  countless  instances  of  recorded  experience. 
But  in  order  to  know  precisely  what  is  best  suited  to 
the  peculiarities  of  his  soil,  climate,  and  other  circum- 
stances, and  to  know  this  with  the  highest  attainable 
certainty,  his  ultimate  reliance  must  be  on  his  own 
experience,  and  that  experience  he  has  the  means  of 
10* 


226  INDIAN   CORN. 

enlarging  to  any  extent,  by  accurate  trials,  that  may 
be  indefinitely  multiplied  and  repeated. 

When  the  best  faculties  of  the  owner  are  thus 
brought  in  contact  with  his  soil,  a  striking  and  mirac- 
ulous change  is  at  once  visible.  Every  fertilizer  is 
made  richer,  every  mode  of  treatment  becomes  a  best 
method,  and  all  the  processes  of  vegetation  are  gal- 
vanized into  new  life  by  the  seething  battery  of  his 
ever-active  brain.  Any  man  can  follow  out  a  process 
mechanically  when  the  rules  are  laid  down.  But  the 
intelligent,  well-read  farmer  will  improve  upon  the 
rules,  and  reach  higher  results.  His  success  is  a  mat- 
ter of  philosophical  necessity. 

Let  the  cultivator  of  the  soil,  then,  remember  that 
there  is  in  all  this  no  grand  secret  nor  profound  mys- 
tery. The  triumphs  of  agriculture  are  simply  the 
results  of  patient  thought  and  study.  The  humblest 
farmer,  whose  scanty  acres  are  hidden  among  the 
Alleghanies,  may  communicate  to  his  rock-bound  soil 
the  prolific  affluence  of  his  thoughtful  mind,  till  every 
acre  shall  teem  with  incredible  tons  of  hay  or  with 
unprecedented  bushels  of  corn. 

Every  increased  yield  per  acre  should  show,  and 
if  obtained  on  sound  principles  will  show  a  diminu- 
tion in  the  cost  of  production.  Yiewed  in  this  light, 
a  large  yield  of  corn  becomes  a  subject  of  peculiar 
interest,  and  a  general  and  material  increase  in  the 
acreable  product  of  the  country  would  be  equivalent 
to  a  reduction  of  the  cost  of  living  for  our  whole  pop- 
ulation. At  the  same  time,  such  an  increase  in  the 
yield  would  possess  another  important  significance. 


HOW   TO   OBTAIN   A   LARGE   YIELD   OF   CORN.      227 

It  would  be  recognized  by  the  hard-working  and  ill- 
requited  peasantry  of  foreign  lands  as  a  conspicuous 
inducement  to  come  over  to  America,  and  establish 
themselves  on  the  free  and  fertile  acres  of  the  bound- 
less West. 


THE  LAEGEST  YIELD  ON  KECOKD. 

THE  largest  amount  of  corn  known  to  have  been 
produced  on  a  single  acre  is  the  yield  of  Dr.  Parker, 
of  South  Carolina,  which,  as  mentioned  on  a  former 
page,  was  a  fraction  over  two  hundred  bushels.  This 
quantity  of  grain  does  not  by  any  means  indicate  the 
highest  capability  of  an  acre,  but  it  stands  at  the  head 
of  all  known  products,  and  is  therefore  an  event  of 
historical  importance. 

Yet  this  result  does  not  seem  to  have  arrested  the 
attention  due  to  its  magnitude  and  its  possible  con- 
sequences ;  nor  has  the  man  who  produced  it  received 
the  full  measure  of  credit  to  which  he  is  justly  enti- 
tled. The  highest  yield  ever  obtained  of  a  grain  that 
forms  the  most  important  crop  of  the  country,  if  not 
of  the  world,  is  a  conspicuous  fact  in  agriculture, 
that  ought  to  win  universal  recognition,  and  confer 
upon  its  author  a  heritage  of  renown,  if  not  some- 
thing more  substantial. 

But  the  world  is  often  slow  to  discern,  and  slower 
still  to  appreciate  its  true  benefactors.  Successful 
results  gradually  developed  in  the  routine  of  daily 
life,  or  in  the  pursuit  of  a  regular  calling,  however 


THE  LARGEST  YIELD   ON   RECORD.  229 

useful,  solid,  or  lasting,  seldom  make  an  immediate 
or  deep  impression  on  society ;  but  individual  success, 
of  little  or  no  merit,  of  no  general  interest,  and  no 
enduring  consequence,  if  suddenly  achieved,  even 
without  the  aid  of  mental  force  or  moral  causes, 
whether  resulting  from  accident,  from  impudence,  or 
from  crime,  raises  its  author  at  once  to  celebrity, 
and  fixes  upon  him  the  admiring  gaze  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

The  man  who,  by  a  bold  and  reckless  venture  in 
the  stock  market,  gambles  successfully  and  achieves  a 
sudden  fortune,  is  surrounded,  as  if  by  magic,  with  an 
instant  train  of  admirers.  Yesterday  he  could  scarcely 
claim  a  friend  in  the  world.  To-day  his  receptions  are 
crowded  with  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  metropo- 
lis ;  he  is  the  centre  of  observation,  and  his  name  is  on 
a  thousand  lips.  He  has  made  a  desperate  stake,  and 
luck  was  on  his  side.  Though  of  the  most  ordinary 
capacity,  the  chances  ruled  in  his  favor,  and  the  hom- 
age of  society  rewards  his  success. 

The  horse  that  succeeds  in  accomplishing  his  mile 
a  few  seconds  sooner  than  any  other,  wins  renown  for 
himself  and  makes  his  master  a  hero.  The  event 
excites  universal  interest,  and  the  press  teems  with 
eulogies,  that  are  shared  in  due  proportion  between 
the  steed  and  his  owner.  The  latter,  by  the  fortunate 
possession  of  a  remarkable  animal,  is  raised  to  promi- 
nence in  society,  and  the  suffrage  of  the  community 
makes  him  a  celebrity  whose  praise  is  on  every 
tongue. 

The  pugilist  who,  by  dint  of  muscle  and  power  of 


230  E*DIAN  COEN. 


endurance,  succeeds  in  vanquishing  his  antagonist  in 
the  ring,  punishing  him  within  an  inch  of  his  life, 
and  pounding  his  features  into  a  condition  equally 
frightful  and  disgusting,  is  triumphantly  escorted  from 
the  arena  by  an  applauding  multitude,  and  journals  of 
nearly  every  rank  emulate  each  other  in  relating  the 
exploit  and  lauding  the  hero,  whose  fame  goes  abroad 
on  every  wind  of  heaven,  till  it  spans  the  whole  coun- 
try. Such  is  the  reward  of  the  human  brute  who, 
by  a  fortuitous  endowment  of  physical  strength,  has 
been  able  to  bruise  and  batter  his  unpitied  victim  to 
the  verge  of  annihilation. 

But  here  is  a  man  who,  quietly  and  without  pre- 
tension, has  achieved  a  higher  result  in  the  produc- 
tion of  food  for  the  human  family  than  any  other  man 
has  ever  reached,  who  has  put  on  record  his  two  hun- 
dred bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  as  a  standing  protest 
against  the  low  average  yield  of  the  country,  thereby 
making  himself  the  true  champion  of  the  cornfield 
and  the  genuine  hero  of  productive  industry  ;  yet  the 
event  has  attracted  but  little  attention,  and  his  name 
is  scarcely  heard  or  known  beyond  his  own  immediate 
circle.  Such  is  the  equity  of  public  opinion,  and  such 
the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century  ! 

But  though  Dr.  Parker,  by  his  immense  and  un- 
exampled yield  of  this  grain,  has  to  that  extent,  and 
up  to  the  present  time,  risen  above  all  competition, 
placing  himself,  in  one  sense,  at  the  head  of  the  four 
million  corn-growers  of  the  country,  and  though  his 
yield,  viewed  in  contrast  with  the  average  ratio  of 
production,  appears  truly  prodigious,  he  has  by  no 


THE  LARGEST  YIELD  ON   RECORD.  231 

means  reached  the  ultima  thule  of  possible  success, 
nor  demonstrated  the  yet  undeveloped  capacity  of 
corn.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  both  on  theoretical 
grounds  and  from  actual  though  limited  trials,  that 
the  two  hundred  bushels  of  Dr.  Parker  are  destined 
to  be  materially  surpassed,  and  probably  at  an  early 
day. 

It  detracts  nothing,  however,  from  the  credit  of 
his  achievement  to  know  that  larger  products,  on  a 
small  scale,  have  already  been  obtained.  Experi- 
mental results,  though  of  limited  extent,  point  clearly 
to  other  and  still  higher  yields.  While  it  is  true 
enough  that  such  results  may  not  indicate,  with  cer- 
tainty, the  product  of  an  acre,  yet  they  are  too  signifi- 
cant to  be  lightly  regarded.  The  amount  actually 
obtained  from  a  square  rod,  however  large  or  incredi- 
ble it  may  appear,  is  prophetic  of  a  similar  product 
for  entire  fields. 

Natural  laws  can  be  examined  and  tested  quite  as 
accurately  and  certainly »on  a  small  area  of  ground  as 
on  one  of  larger  extent.  The  man  who  obtains  forty- 
four  quarts  of  grain  from  a  square  rod  renders  it  prob- 
able that  either  he  or  others,  stimulated  by  his  exam- 
ple, will  get  two  hundred  and  twenty  bushels  from 
an  acre.  The  latter  may  indeed  be  more  difficult  to 
effect,  yet  in  due  time  it  will  be  accomplished.  And 
if  from  an  area  of  half  a  rod  the  persevering  experi- 
menter succeeds  in  getting  twenty-four  quarts  of 
shelled  corn,  he  may  fairly  claim  that  he  has  estab- 
lished, not  indeed  the  fact,  but  the  undoubted  possi- 
bility of  two  hundred  and  forty  bushels  per  acre.  He 


232  INDIAN  CORN. 

has  shown  that  Nature  has  erected  no  inexorable  bar- 
rier in  the  way  of  such  a  yield,  and  that  therefore 
how  soon  it  will  be  reached  must  depend  upon  the 
skill  and  ingenuity  and  perseverance  of  man. 

From  these  and  like  considerations  it  is  rendered 
more  than  probable  that  some  of  our  thoughtful  and 
progressive  cultivators  will  yet  reach  a  product  suf- 
ficiently in  advance  of  any  hitherto  recorded  to  mark 
an  epoch  in  corn  husbandry. 

Whoever  the  farmer  may  be  that  shall  first  obtain 
such  a  yield,  if  he  shall  reach  it  by  a  method  so  sound 
and  systematic  as  to  repeat  its  results,  and  at  the  same 
time  reduce  the  cost  of  production  in  a  reasonable  pro- 
portion, he  will  announce  to  the  world  an  era  of 
cheaper  living,  and  will  deserve  to  be  ranked  with  the 
benefactors  of  mankind.  He  will  increase  the  money 
value  of  every  acre  of  land  in  thp  country,  and  aug- 
ment the  swelling  tide  of  immigration  by  sending 
across  the  Atlantic  a  new  and  louder  note  of  invita- 
tion that  will  fall  like  pleasant  music  on  the  ears  of 
toiling  millions,  kindling  in  their  minds  bright  visions 
of  future  comfort  and  plenty  in  the  land  of  Washing- 
ton and  Lincoln. 


IMi  A  K  i 

UNIVKKSITV   OP 


USES  OF  COEK 

THEEE  is  no  plant  or  vegetable  cultivated  by  man 
that  is  capable  of  being  applied  to  so  many  purposes 
of  utility  as  Indian  corn.  A  slight  glance  at  its  many 
and  diversified  uses  is  sufficient  to  show  how  exten- 
sively and  intimately  it  is  interwoven  with  the  inter- 
ests of  the  human  family. 

The  grain  both  green  and  ripe,  the  stalks  and 
leaves  in  the  successive  stages  of  their  growth  and 
maturity,  the  husks  that  envelop  the  ear,  and  the  cob 
that  supports  the  grain,  are  all  adapted  to  economical 
purposes,  and  fitted,  in  a  variety  of  ways,  to  subserve 
the  wants  of  man. 

1.  CORN  AS  AN  ARTICLE  OF  HUMAN  FOOD. 

The  manifold  and  ingenious  preparations  of  this 
grain  intended  for  the  table,  comprise  a  numerous 
catalogue  of  dishes,  all  differing  from  each  other,  yet 
each  possessing  its  points  of  merit  and  its  class  of  ad- 
mirers. 

IN  THE  GKEEN  STATE. — In  that  stage  of  its  growth 
when  the  ears  and  kernels  are  fully  developed,  but  not 


234  INDIAN   CORN. 

yet  glazed  and  hardened,  the  flavor  of  corn  attains  its 
highest  perfection.  The  ears  of  the  sweet  varieties, 
while  yet  green,  succulent,  and  juicy,  are  universally 
esteemed  a  luxury,  whether  boiled  or  roasted ;  and  the 
grains,  when  shaved  or  grated  from  the  cob,  are  skil- 
fully converted  into  a  diversity  of  fritters,  cakes,  pud- 
dings, pies,  and  other  numerous  preparations.  Some 
kinds  of  green  corn  are  thought  by  many  to  resemble 
and  rival,  when  rightly  prepared,  the  flavor  of  the 
oyster,  and  are  consequently  highly  popular  with  a 
large  class  of  consumers. 

This  increasing  fondness  and  demand  for  the 
favorite  kinds  of  sweet  corn  have  caused  them  to  be, 
within  the  last  few  years,  very  extensively  preserved 
by  various  processes,  either  of  drying,  pickling,  or 
canning,  which  is  now  so  successfully  done  that  the 
flavor  of  the  green  state  is  retained,  and  proves  highly 
acceptable  on  the  table  at  a  later  period  of  the  year. 

Judging  from  the  remarkable  and  continually  in- 
creasing demand  for  some  of  the  leading  varieties  of 
green  corn  during  the  season  of  its  growth,  and  the  in- 
creasing quantities  annually  put  up  for  winter,  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  general  fondness  for  it  amounted  to  a 
passion.  The  immense  supplies  poured  into  our  large 
cities  during  the  summer  are  almost  incredible,  and 
the  process  of  canning  it  bids  fair  to  grow  up  into  an 
extensive  branch  of  business.  When  it  is  considered 
that,  in  addition  to  the  vast  amount  brought  into 
market,  nearly  every  farmer  raises  a  supply  for  home 
consumption,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  crop  of  sweet 
corn,  even  by  itself  considered,  forms,  both  as  to 


USES  OF   COEN.  235 

amount  and  value,  an  important  item  in  the  catalogue 
of  farming  products. 

IN  THE  RIPE  STATE. — But  still  more  variously  and 
extensively  in  its  ripened  state,  does  the  grain  of  this 
cereal  meet  the  requirements  of  daily  use.  In  the 
several  forms  of  hulled  corn,  popped  corn,  hominy, 
samp,  Indian  meal,  corn-starch,  and  maizena,  and  in 
the  many  simple,  healthful,  and  economical  prepara- 
tions by  which  these  are  rendered  acceptable  to  almost 
every  variety  of  taste,  the  corn  crop  of  our  country  is 
daily  contributing,  in  large  and  liberal  measure,  to 
feed  its  population. 

The  public  interest  in  this  subject  has  been  from 
time  to  time  awakened  and  stimulated  by  several 
agricultural  journals,  and  especially  by  Mr.  Judd,  in 
the  American  Agriculturist  for  January,  1862.  The 
following  extract  from  an  article  in  that  number  has 
an  historical  interest,  and  is  creditable  to  the  enterprise 
of  the  proprietor,  while  it  also  presents  in  a  favorable 
light  the  usefulness  of  his  journal : 

"In  November  last  we  stated  that,  taking  into 
account  the  current  prices  of  corn,  wheat,  and  pota- 
toes, in  different  parts  of  the  country,  West  as  well  as 
East,  and  estimating  the  relative  proportion  of  health- 
ful nutriment  furnished  by  a  bushel  of  each,  it  seemed 
evident  that  a  similar  amount  of  nourishment  would 
be  obtained  from — 

40  cents  expended  in  purchasing  COKN, 
100  cents  expended  in  purchasing  WHEAT, 
160  cents  expended  in  purchasing  POTATOES  ; 

and  that,  with  the  present  large  crop  of  Indian  corn, 


236  INDIAN  CORN. 

and  the  great  foreign  demand  for  wheat,  it  was  espe- 
cially important  to  use  more  corn  for  food,  and  save 
our  wheat  to  sell.  In  order  to  call  out  information 
upon  the  best  methods  of  cooking  Indian  corn  meal, 
we  proposed,  in  the  December  Agriculturist,  to  have 
an  exhibition  of  corn  bread  and  corn  cake,  at  our  office, 
on  December  14th.  Premiums  of  ten  dollars,  five 
dollars,  and  two  dollars  were  offered  for  the  best, 
second  best,  and  third  best  loaves  of  bread,  consist- 
ing mainly  of  corn  meal ;  also  an  extra  premium  of 
four  dollars  for  the  best  loaf  of  cake  of  any  kind  in 
which  corn  meal  should  be  the  chief  ingredient. 

"A  Special  Cake  Premium. — As  the  extra  premium 
of  four  dollars  for  corn  cake  was  limited  somewhat 
by  the  cost,  we  afterwards  decided  to  add  to  our  pub- 
lished premiums  a  special  premium  of  two  dollars,  to 
be  awarded  to  the  lest  corn  cake  of  any  kind,  without 
regard  to  cost.  The  main  requisites  for  the  bread 
were  to  be :  cheapness,  fair  quality,  and  adaptability 
to  general  family  use,  eaten  cold  as  well  as  hot,  and 
when  from  one  to  three  days  old.  Full  directions  for 

t/ 

making  were  to  accompany  each  loaf.  The  entries 
reached  over  two  hundred  (two  hundred  and  nineteen). 
Several  entries  being  for  duplicated  loaves,  the  entire 
number  of  specimens  reached  some  two  hundred  and 
fifty !  As  will  be  seen  below,  these  came  from  the 
distant  West,  from  the  Middle  States,  as  far  South  as 
Maryland,  and  from  the  North  and  East.  A  space  of 
seventy-four  feet  of  wide  table-room  was  closely  filled 
with  a  most  imposing  display  of  loaves  of  all  sizes, 
from  nearly  half  a  bushel  down  to  patty-pan  corn- 


USES  OF   COBN.  237 

meal  biscuits,  and  small  corn-meal  crackers — and  not 
bad  crackers  either.  There  were  pure  corn-meal 
loaves,  and  loaves  of  c  rye  and  Indian ; '  loaves  one 
part  wheat  or  rye  flour  with  three  parts  corn  meal, 
and  loaves  apprently  half  meal  and  half  flour,  with 
loaves  of  every  intermediate  combination.  There 
were  pumpkin  loaves,  corn-meal  dodgers,  corn-meal 
pound  cake,  corn-meal  pone,  corn-meal  crullers,  corn- 
meal  6  nut-cakes,'  corn-meal  baked  puddings,  and  corn- 
meal  whatnots.  There  were  round  loaves,  square 
loaves,  high  loaves,  and  flat  loaves — in  short,  loaves 
of  every  conceivable  form  and  shape,  for  of  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty-odd  specimens  scarcely  two  were 
alike  in  form  and  mode  of  making.  The  sight  was 
one  to  gladden  not  only  the  hungry,  but  to  cheer  the 
heart  of  every  patriot,  when  he  remembers  that  corn 
is  our  native  cereal,  that  it  grows  everywhere  and  in 
abundance,  that  it  is  as  yet  untouched  by  any  disease, 
that  it  is  healthful  and  nourishing,  and  that  to-day 
one  with  cash  can  buy,  from  ready  sellers  at  the  West, 
more  bushels  of  corn  at  fifteen  cents  a  bushel  than 
there  are  bushels  of  wheat  now  on  the  continent.  The 
exhibition  showed  at  a  glance  the  great  variety  of 
palatable  forms  in  which  corn  meal  can  be  worked  up. 
Under  or  by  the  side  of  each  specimen  were  placed 
the  directions  for  making  it.  The  large  concourse  of 
visitors,  numbering  by  thousands,  were  both  surprised 
and  gratified,  and  many  went  away  resolved  to  hence- 
forth largely  increase  their  family  purchases  and  use 
of  corn  meal." 

The  peculiar  fitness  of  corn  for  human  food,  and 


238  INDIAN   CORN. 

its  adaptation  to  the  varied  wants  of  the  system,  have 
been  well  stated  in  the  following  extract  from  an  arti- 
cle found  in  several  contemporary  journals,  though 
we  are  not  certain  of  its  original  source : 

"  During  excessive  fatigue  in  low  temperature, 
wheat  flour  fails  to  sustain  the  system.  This  is  owing 
to  a  deficiency  in  the  elements  necessary  to  supply 
animal  heat ;  and  the  strong  desire  for  oleaginous  sub- 
stances, under  these  circumstances,  has  led  to  the 
belief  that  animal  food  is  necessary  to  the  human  sup- 
port. But  late  scientific  experiments  have  led  to 
better  acquaintance  with  the  habits  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  and  show  that  vegetable  oil  answers 
the  same  purpose  as  animal  food ;  that  one  pound  of 
parched  Indian  corn,  or  an  equal  quantity  of  corn 
meal,  made  into  bread,  is  more  than  equivalent  to 
two  pounds  of  fat  meat. 

"  Meal  from  Indian  corn  contains  more  than  four 
times  as  much  oleaginous  matter  as  wheat  flour ;  more 
starch,  and  is  consequently  capable  of  producing  more 
sugar,  though  less  gluten ;  in  other  important  com- 
pounds it  contains  nearly  as  much  nitrogenous  mate- 
rial. The  combination  of  alimentary  compounds  in 
Indian  corn  renders  it  alone  the  mixed  diet  capable 
of  sustaining  man  under  the  more  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances. In  it  there  is  a  natural  coalescence  of 
elementary  principles  which  constitute  the  basis  of 
organic  life,  that  exists  in  no  other  vegetable  produc- 
tion. In  ultimate  composition,  in  nutritious  proper- 
ties, in  digestibility,  and  in  its  adaptation  to  the  various 
necessities  of  animal  life  in  the  different  climates  of 


USES   OF   COEN.  239 

the  earth,  corn  meal  is  capable  of  supplying  more  of 
the  absolute  want  of  the  adult  human  system  than 
any  other  single  substance." 

In  addition  to  the  amount  of  corn  consumed  in  the 
various  forms  and  modes  of  preparing  it,  both  in  the 
green  and  ripe  state  as  above  described,  there  are  also 
other  forms,  not  perhaps  so  generally  considered,  in 
which  it  is  extensively,  though  unconsciously,  con- 
sumed by  every  class  of  the  people,  not  only  of  this, 
but  of  other  countries.  The  beef,  butter,  and  cheese, 
the  pork  and  lard,  the  poultry  and  mutton,  which 
make  up  so  large  a  share  of  the  products  of  our  agri- 
culture, are  each  composed,  in  a  larger  or  less  degree, 
of  this  all-pervading  cereal. 

When  the  citizen  of  a  foreign  country  sits  down 
to  a  dinner  of  American  beef  or  pork,  the  dish  before 
him  is  the  contribution  of  an  American  cornfield, 
representing,  perhaps,  the  golden  Sioux  of  New  Eng- 
land, or  the  stately  Gourd-seed  of  Illinois.  The 
wealthy  resident  of  the  metropolis,  whose  fastidious 
palate  has  not,  perhaps,  been  educated  up  to  the  latest 
improvement  in  corn  bread,  dilates  with  complacency 
over  his  favorite  spare-rib,  or  tender-loin,  without  re- 
flecting that  the  perfection  of  its  flavor  is  derived  from 
Indian  corn. 

There  are  probably  few  of  the  consumers  of  beef, 
pork,  and  mutton,  who  consider  the  influence  exerted 
by  the  maize  crop  on  these  staples,  and  fewer  still  who 
are  fully  aware  how  much  higher  they  would  be  in 
price,  as  well  as  inferior  in  quality,  if  that  crop  were 


24:0  INDIAN   CORN. 

suddenly  annihilated,  or  even  if  it  were  seriously 
damaged  for  a  single  season. 


2.  CORN  AS  FOOD  FOR  DOMESTIC  ANIMALS. 

Every  description  of  live  stock  that  is  usually  kept 
upon  the  farm  may  be  fed  with  economy  and  advan- 
tage upon  the  grain  or  the  stover  of  maize,  or  upon 
both  combined,  provided  these  are  given  with  judg- 
ment, and  not  to  the  exclusion  of  other  feed.  For 
poultry  and  swine,  the  grain  itself  is  well  adapted.  All 
other  kinds  of  stock  will  eat  with  avidity  both  the 
stalk  and  the  grain,  and  will  thrive  upon  them,  if  they 
are  properly  prepared  and  blended  in  suitable  pro- 
portions with  other  provender. 

Corn  meat  is  sometimes  fed  to  cattle  without  due 
regard  to  regularity,  and  in  quantities  inconsiderate 
and  unreasonable.  The  effect  of  such  feeding  is  not 
only  to  injure  the  animal,  but  to  bring  undeserved 
odium  upon  the  grain.  Indian  meal  is  a  concentrated 
feed,  and  like  guano  among  fertilizers,  depends  for 
its  highest  usefulness  and  value  upon  being  judiciously 
blended  with  the  right  material,  and  in  the  right  pro- 
portions. 

It  is  a  good  general  rule  in  feeding,  and  equally 
applicable  to  all  kinds  of  grain,  as  well  as  to  roots  and 
hay,  to  confine  no  class  of  animals  to  any  one  or  two 
articles  of  food.  Variety  is  conducive  to  health,  and 
the  more  carefully  the  husbandman  acts  upon  this 
principle,  the  better  his  stock  will  thrive. 


USES   OF   CORN.  241 

FOR  POULTRY. — In  feeding  fowls  and  most  kinds 
of  poultry  the  rice  corn  and  other  small  varieties  are 
found  to  be  well  adapted  and  are  now  generally  pre- 
ferred. Corn-meal  and  boiled  potatoes,  mixed  to- 
gether with  hot  water,  are  said  to  be  an  excellent 
preparation  for  feeding  to  poultry  through  the  winter. 
To  this  some  add  a  proportion  of  oat-meal,  and  com- 
mend the  combination  very  highly,  as  promotive  of 
health,  and  increasing  the  product  of  eggs.  When 
fowls  are  to  be  fattened  for  the  table,  they  should  be 
shut  up  for  several  weeks  and  fed,  four  or  five  times 
a  day,  with  corn  meal  and  ground  barley  or  oats, 
mixed  together  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one,  with 
warm  water  and  lard.  For  fattening  turkeys,  there  is 
no  feed  like  Indian  meal,  and  few  if  any  modes  of  using 
corn  with  more  profit.  His  especial  weakness,  says  a 
writer  in  the  Agriculturist,  is  Indian  corn,  and  his 
eye  twinkles  with  delight  at  the  sight  of  this  golden 
grain.  His  flesh  tells  the  story  of  his  keeping.  For 
the  last  six  weeks  of  his  life  he  should  be  plied  with 
corn  as  the  standard  diet.  There  is  no  cheating  the 
consumer.  A  lean  bird  is  not  the  thing  for  forty 
cents  a  pound.  Be  honest,  give  him  a  plump  corn- 
fed  fowl,  and  sleep  with  a  thriving  pocket  and  a 
good  conscience,  though  the  crib  grows  lean. 

FOR  HORSES, — Indian  corn,  in  connection  with 
other  feed,  is  well  adapted,  and  if  not  given  in  exces- 
sive proportion,  is  attended  with  advantage  to  the 
animal,  as  well  as  profit  to  the  owner.  In  the  livery 
stables  of  large  towns,  and  among  stage  proprietors, 
the  addition  of  corn  meal  to  the  daily  feed  of  the 
11 


242  INDIAN   COEN. 

liorse  is  quite  generally  practised.  The  proportions 
usually  given  are  about  sixteen  to  twenty  pounds  of 
ground  corn  and  oats  daily,  with  eight  or  ten  pounds 
of  chaffed  hay,  the  ratio  of  corn  to  oats  being  gener- 
ally about  two  to  one,  though  this  depends  very 
much  on  the  relative  prices  of  these  grains.  Among 
farmers  this  practice  may  be,  and  often  is,  modified 
with  advantage,  the  chaffed  stover  of  corn  being 
more  or  less  blended  with  the  hay,  or  substituted  for  it. 

Some  men  are  accustomed  to  regard  oats  as  the 
peculiar  and  essential  feed  of  the  horse,  without 
which  he  can  scarcely  exist,  and  with  which  he  needs 
little  besides.  It  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  this  grain 
is  well  suited,  and  congenial  to  the  nature  of  the 
horse,  and  no  other  is  perhaps  more .  so.  Eut  this 
will  scarcely  justify  the  practice  of  making  oats  his 
exclusive  feed,  nor  of  limiting  his  diet  to  oats  and  hay. 
According  to  principles  of  physiology,  as  well  as  on 
evidence  derived  from  experience,  the  horse,  like  every 
other  animal,  requires  variety  in  his  food,  and  cannot 
without  it  maintain  a  condition  of  perfect  health  and 
vigor. 

YALTJE  OF  CORN  FOE  CATTLE. — In  the  management 
and  feeding  of  neat  cattle,  there  are  several  classes  of 
them  to  be  considered ;  namely,  young  stock,  milch 
cows,  working  cattle,  and  beeves.  For  each  of  these, 
Indian  corn  is  found  useful,  and  if  the  object  is  to 
produce  the  highest  degree  of  thrift  in  the  animal  at 
the  least  expense  to  the  owner,  and  to  support  the 
largest  amount  of  stock  on  a  given  extent  of  ground, 
then  Indian  corn  becomes  not  only  useful,  but  indis- 


USES   OF   COKN.  243 

pensable.  Every  part  of  the  plant,  including  the 
leaf,  stalk,  husk,  and  cob,  as  well  as  the  grain,  may  be 
turned  to  an  advantageous  account. 

For  young  stock,  and  for  cows^  when  milk  rather 
than  butter  is  the  object,  the  stover  alone,  if  well 
cured,  finely  chaffed,  and  soaked  a  few  hours  before 
feeding,  is  sufficient  to  keep  them  in  good  condition  ; 
though  for  the  purpose  of  variety,  it  is  usual  and 
profitable  to  connect  with  this  a  proportion  of  cut 
hay,  or  pulped  roots,  or  both.  But  for  working  cat- 
tle, for  cows  when  butter  or  cheese  is  the  object,  and 
for  beef-cattle  at  all  times,  the  grain  is  essential  to  the 
best  results,  and  should  be  combined  with  other  kinds 
of  feed  in  larger  or  less  proportions,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. 

For  this  purpose,  there  is  perhaps  no  better  prep- 
aration of  corn-fodder  than  that  already  described 
on  a  previous  page,  namely,  the  addition  of  corn  and 
cob  meal  to  the  stover  finely  chaffed.  This  combina- 
tion includes  the  entire  product  of  the  corn,  and 
when  thoroughly  scalded  or  steamed  before  using, 
whether  given  for  the  purpose  of  butter  or  beef,  or 
for  the  general  improvement  and  vigor  of  the  animal, 
is  found  to  be  exceedingly  well  adapted  to  the  intend- 
ed object. 

It  was  shown,  in  a  former  chapter,  that  when  the 
farmer  raises  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn  per  acre, 
the  total  product  of  the  crop,  in  the  form  of  this  fodder, 
is  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  and  is  equal,  in  nutritive 
value,  to  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  hay. 

ISTow  it  has  been  foun£  in  practice,  that  cattle  re- 


244  INDIAN   CORN. 

quire,  for  their  daily  food,  from  two  to  three  per  cent, 
of  their  weight  in  hay,  or  its  equivalent.  According 
to  Prof.  Johnston : 

An  ox  at  rest  requires  2  per  cent,  of  its  live  weight. 
"    "  at  work      "       2£  "      "     "    "     "        " 
A  cow  in  milk      "       3     "      "     "    "     "        " 

Ifj  then,  we  take  the  average  weight  of  cows  at 
seven  hundred  pounds,  it  will  appear  that  the  above 
product  of  one  acre  of  corn  would  be  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  winter  six  of  them,  assuming  the  average 
winter  for  the  United  States  to  be  one  hundred  and 
fifty  days.  Or,  taking  cattle  of  the  various  classes,  at 
an  average  consumption  of  food  equal  to  two  and  one- 
half  per  cent,  of  their  weight,  then  the  above  product 
of  one  acre  of  corn  would  support  seven  during  the 
winter,  and  leave  a  balance  of  the  crop  on  hand. 

YALUE  OF  CORN  FOE  SWINE.—  In  feeding  hogs,  the 
stover  of  corn  is  not,  to  any  considerable  extent,  avail- 
able, and  the  grain  is  usually  given  in  larger  proportion, 
and  more  exclusively  than  to  cattle.  But  here,  as  in 
other  cases,  the  principle  of  variety  is  not  to  be 
neglected.  In  diversifying  the  feed  of  this  animal, 
there  need  be  no  difficulty.  His  omnivorous  pro- 
pensities are  so  strongly  developed  as  to  embrace 
nearly  every  kind  of  food  that  comes  within  his  reach. 
Whatever  is  eaten  by  other  domestic  animals  is  seldom 
rejected  by  the  hog,  while  many  substances  refused 
by  them  are  eagerly  appropriated  by  his  indiscriminate 
voracity. 

He  is,  therefore,  easily  kept,  and  with  prudent 


USES  OF  CORN.  245 

management  may  be  made  very  profitable.  This  is 
especially  the  case  where  pigs  are  kept  in  small  num- 
bers. When  the  proportion  of  them  to  other  stock  is 
rightly  balanced,  so  as  to  make  them  a  convenient 
appendage  to  the  barnyard,  to  the  kitchen,  and  to 
the  dairy,  the  cost  of  maintaining  them  is  so  trifling 
as  scarcely  to  be  felt. 

When  they  are  increased  beyond  this  proportion, 
though  the  cost  of  keeping  the  additional  number  is 
somewhat  greater,  yet  with  good  management  the 
comparative  expense  may  be  made  very  moderate. 
The  incidental  and  economical  sources  of  food  for 
swine  on  a  well-managed  farm  are  so  many  and  various 
that  very  little  positive  expense  is  incurred,  except  for 
the  grain  that  is  superadded  to  the  other  feed  in  the 
process  of  fattening. 

But  here  is  where  many  farmers  make  a  serious 
mistake.  They  postpone  the  use  of  grain  until  a  late 
period,  and  then  commence  feeding  it  in  excessive 
quantities,  that  are  often  suddenly  increased  with  but 
little  regularity  and  little  or  no  system. 

With  such  treatment,  neither  corn  nor  any  other 
grain  or  feed  can  exert  its  proper  and  legitimate  effect. 
Experience  has  proved  that  the  most  certain  mode  of 
feeding  hogs,  with  profit,  is  to  commence  the  use  of 
grain  or  meal  with  the  young  pig.  It  matters  not 
how  young  the  pig  maybe,  provided  the  meal  is  given 
with  due  care  and  judgment,  in  small  quantities,  well 
scalded  or  cooked,  and  fed  in  connection  with  milk 
and  other  waste  from  the  dairy  and  kitchen. 

If  this  practice  is  continued  with  a  very  gradual 


24:6  INDIAN   CORN. 

increase  in  the  amount  of  Indian  meal  until  the  time 
arrives  for  full  feeding,  the  farmer  will  find  his  hog  so 
far  advanced  in  size  and  flesh  that  a  much  smaller 
quantity  of  grain  will  be  required  to  finish  off  with, 
than  would  be  needed  by  the  other  method. 

He  will  thus  have  a  healthier  animal,  better  pork, 
and  more  of  it,  with  a  less  total  consumption  of  corn, 
than  he  could  obtain  by  the  mistaken  system  which 
vainly  attempts  to  compensate  for  the  neglect  of  the 
first  six  months  by  excessive  feeding  during  the  last 
two. 

This  principle  is  equally  true  and  sound  in  refer- 
ence to  other  animals,  and  a  similar  economy  of  grain 
and  increase  of  flesh  will  be  found  to  result  from  it. 

CORN  FOB  SHEEP. — In  the  feeding  of  sheep  both 
the  stalk  and  the  grain  of  maize  may  be  used  with 
advantage,  especially  when  blended  or  alternated 
with  other  kinds  of  feed.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  ani- 
mal that  thrives  better  on  a  variety  of  food,  and  none 
that  needs  more  careful  attention,  both  in  the  feeding 
and  in  the  general  management. 

It  is  a  very  usual  practice  with  sheep  farmers  to 
mix  Indian  corn  with  oats  or  barley,  giving  to  each 
animal  a  pint  per  day,  in  addition  to  other  feed.  The 
latter  grains  are  doubtless  good,  and  rank  probably 
next  to  corn  in  value.  But  when  the  object  is  to 
fatten  the  animal  there  is  no  feed  equal  to  Indian 
meal  and  oil  meal,  given  in  equal  quantities,  and  not 
less  than  one  pound  per  head  daily. 

According  to  Mr.  John  Johnston,  of  Western  ISTew 
York,  a  most  excellent  authority,  there  is  no  animal 


USES   OF   CORN.  247 

that  will  take  on  fat  so  rapidly  as  sheep,  if  they  are 
in  good  condition  and  rightly  fed.  He  estimates  the 
relative  values  of  oil  meal  and  corn  in  the  ratio  of 
fifty  pounds  of  the  former  to  sixty  pounds  of  the 
latter,  in  feeding  sheep,  and  probably  the  same  com- 
parative value  would  hold  true  for  other  animals. 

It  has  been  found  by  wool-growers  that  the  ten- 
dency of  feeding  corn  is  to  increase  the  weight  of  the 
fleece.  One  writer  reports,  as  the  result  of  some  ex- 
periments on  this  subject,  an  average  increase  of  half 
a  pound  per  fleece,  produced  by  feeding  corn  during 
the  winter,  before  shearing.  Some  others  have  found 
a  greater  increase  than  this. 

Sheep  are  very  fond  of  corn-fodder  when  it  is  per- 
fectly sound,  and  experience  has  proved  it  to  be  eco- 
nomical, and  well  adapted  to  their  wants,  and  all  the 
more  so  if  finely  chaffed.  The  amount  of  food  con- 
sumed by  sheep,  as  compared  with  that  of  cattle,  has 
been  computed  at  about  one-eighth.  That  is  to  say, 
the  food  required  by  one  ox  would  be  sufficient,  on 
an  average,  for  eight  sheep.  Therefore,  according  to 
the  estimate  before  made  for  cattle,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  total  product  of  one  acre  of  corn,  including 
grain,  cob,  and  stalk,  on  a  yield  of  one  hundred 
bushels,  would  be  sufficient  to  winter  more  than  fifty 
sheep. 

It  is  not,  however,  intended  by  this  statement  to 
recommend  the  exclusive  use  of  the  above  provender, 
nor  to  prescribe  for  every  case  one  invariable  propor- 
tion of  the  different  parts  in  combining  them.  Though 
for  some  purposes  the  combination  of  the  grain,  cob, 


248  INDIAN   COKN. 

and  stalk,  in  the  proportion  of  their  yield  as  above 
given,  is  no  doubt  the  best  form  in  which  they  can  be 
used,  yet,  in  other  cases,  a  larger  or  less  relative  quan- 
tity of  the  grain  would  be  found  expedient.  These 
are  points  that  the  farmer  can  best  determine  for  him- 
self by  comparative  trials.  The  estimate  is  made  for 
the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  economical  advantages 
of  corn,  and  the  feeding  power  of  one  acre  of  it. 


COST    OF     BEEF    MADE    FEOM    COKK 

THE  neat  cattle  in  the  United  States,  in  1860,  in- 
cluding all  kinds,  amounted  to  over  twenty-five  mill- 
ions. In  1 865  the  beef  consumed  in  £Tew  York  city  alone, 
added  to  the  quantity  exported  from  it,  made  a  total 
of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  pounds.  What 
the  entire  consumption  and  export  of  beef  for  the 
whole  country  amounts  to,  we  have  no  means  of  de- 
termining ;  but  from  the  amount  required  by  a  single 
city,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  aggregate  demand  is 
immense,  and  that,  to  supply  this  demand,  the  pro- 
duction of  beef  by  American  farmers  has  grown  into 
a  business  of  vast  proportions. 

As  Indian  corn  is  a  large  element  in  the  making 
of  beef,  the  best  method  of  feeding  it  becomes,  of 
course,  an  important  question,  and  interests  alike  the 
producer  and  consumer.  It  interests  the  former  by 
determining,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  amount  of  profit 
on  his  corn  and  other  provender,  and  the  latter  be- 
cause it  involves  the  cost,  and  therefore  affects  the 
price,  of  an  article  of  daily  consumption. 

The  experience  of  farmers  in  regard  to  the  profit 
11* 


250  INDIAN   CORN. 

of  making  beef  is  widely  various,  but,  on  the  whole, 
unfavorable.  One  man  finds  the  business  lucrative, 
while  another  sinks  money  in  it.  The  difference 
arises  in  part,  no  doubt,  from  the  locality,  the  breed 
of  the  animal,  and  other  circumstances ;  but  it  also 
depends  very  much  on  the  method  of  feeding,  and  on 
the  man. 

If  a  few  invariably  succeed,  or  even  generally  suc- 
ceed, although  a  larger  number  may  fail,  it  proves 
that  there  is  a  right  method  that  brings  success,  and 
that  consequently  success  ought  to  be  the  rule,  and 
failure  the  exception.  ~No  man  who  proceeds  blindly 
in  this  business  can  reasonably  expect  to  make  it  prof- 
itable. It  is  as  true  here  as  in  every  other  branch  of 
husbandry,  that  intelligence  is  essential  to  prosperity. 

In  order  to  convert  corn,  or  any  other  feed,  into 
beef  to  the  best  advantage,  it  is  important  to  know, 
as  nearly  as  possible,  how  many  pounds  of  the  former 
it  requires,  on  an  average,  to  make  a  pound  of  the 
latter.  This  does  not  appear  to  have  been,  as  yet, 
very  precisely  determined,  in  regard  to  corn ;  there 
are,  however,  some  data  from  which  a  tolerably  accu- 
rate conclusion  may  be  derived. 

There  is  also  another  principle,  now  beginning  to 
be  understood  among  farmers,  that  should  here  be 
kept  steadily  in  view.  It  is  found  that  a  certain 
amount  of  food  is  consumed  by  every  animal  before 
the  process  of  fattening  commences.  When  a  steer  is 
brought  up  to  the  point  where  this  process  begins,  it 
requires  a  definite  quantity  of  provender  to  keep  him 
in  that  condition.  If  fed  beyond  that  point,  the  excess 


COST   OF   MAKING  BEEF   FROM   CORN.  251 

of  food  contributes  to  the  formation  of  fat.  Thus  in 
regard  to  beef,  as  we  before  found  in  the  case  of  corn, 
the  profit  lies  in  the  last  additions  made  to  the  cost  of 
production.* 

Here,  then,  arises  the  twofold  question,  What  is  the 
amount  of  provender  that  will  keep  an  animal  station- 
ary ?  and  what  amount  of  corn  or  other  feed,  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  is  required  for  each  pound  of  fat  that  is 
formed  ? 

Now  we  have  already  seen  that  neat  cattle  con- 
sume, on  an  average,  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  daily 
of  their  weight  in  hay,  or  its  equivalent.  If  they  re- 
ceive less  than  this,  they  fall  away ;  if  more  than  this, 
they  increase.  If,  then,  a  steer  weighing  seven  hun- 
dred pounds  is  fed  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds 
of  hay,  or  chaffed  stalks,  per  week,  or  any  other  food 
equivalent  to  these,  he  will  hold  his  condition.  If,  in 
addition  to  this,  he  receives  fifty-six  pounds  of  corn 
per  week,  he  will  increase  in  weight.  In  order  to 
know  definitely  what  the  gain  would  be  in  this  case, 
let  us  endeavor  to  determine  the  effective  value  of 
corn  in  the  production  of  beef. 

Mr.  G.  H.  Chase,  of  Cayuga  County,  K  Y.,  found 
by  experiment,  as  reported  in  the  Country  Gentleman, 
that  twenty-eight  quarts  of  ground  barley  per  week 
gave  an  average  increase  of  eighteen  pounds  of  flesh  ; 
but  ground  barley  contains  less  than  one-fourth  the 
percentage  of  fatty  matter  that  belongs  to  Indian 

*  This  principle  is  equally  true  in  all  cases  of  feeding,  whether  the 
object  is  beef,  butter,  cheese,  pork,  or  mutton. 


252  INDIAN   CORN. 

corn,  and  the  latter  has  been  proved  by  trial  to  be 
more  fattening  than  any  other  grain.  It  appears, 
from  the  experiment  of  Mr.  Chase,  that  less  than 
three  pounds  of  barley  gave  one  pound  of  beef.  This, 
however,  is  probably  better  than  an  average  result. 

In  the  Journal  of  the  Bath  and  West  of  England 
Agricultural  Society  a  table  is  given,  in  which  six 
pounds  of  barley  are-  stated  to  be  equal  to  the  produc- 
tion of  one  pound  of  beef. 

In  some  experiments  on  pig-feeding,  by  Mr.  Lawes, 
of  England,  the  comparative  fattening  effects  of  barley 
and  corn  were  found  to  be  very  nearly  in  the  ratio  of 
six  to  five ;  making  five  pounds  of  corn  equal  to  six 
pounds  of  barley.  Therefore,  according  to  the  table 
above  referred  to,  five  pounds  of  corn  would  be  equal 
in  feeding  effect  to  one  pound  of  beef. 

In  the  Rural  Annual  for  1865,  the  editor,  com- 
menting on  some  experiments  of  Lawes  and  Gilbert, 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  "  a  bullock  weighing 
eight  hundred  pounds  would  consume  forty-three 
pounds  of  corn  and  ninety  pounds  of  hay  per  week, 
and  increase  eight  pounds." 

It  is  evident  that  this  rate  of  feeding  is  entirely 
too  low  for  the  weight  of  the  animal.  It  shows  a  fair 
result  for  the  corn,  but  too  small  a  gain  of  flesh  to 
give  the  highest  profit.  It  would  take  all  of  the 
above  hay,  and  about  half  of  the  corn,  to  keep  the  ox 
stationary  through  the  week,  and  the  balance  of  the 
corn,  say  twenty-four  pounds,  would  produce  the  in- 
creased weight. 

But  the  writer  afterwards  varies  this  statement, 


COST  OF  MAKING  BEEF  FROM  CORN.  253 

and  supposes  one  bushel  of  corn  and  one  hundred 
pounds  of  hay  to  produce  ten  pounds  of  beef  in  a 
week.  But  still  the  rate  of  feeding  is  too  low  for  the 
best  result.  In  this  case  the  ox  would  require  the 
entire  hay,  and  about  twenty  pounds  of  the  corn,  in 
order  to  hold  his  condition  ;  leaving  forty  pounds  of 
the  corn  to  account  for  the  increased  weight.  In  one 
of  these  instances  the  effect  of  the  feeding  shows  that 
three  pounds  of  corn  produce  a  pound  of  beef,  and  in 
the  other  four  pounds  of  corn  give  the  same  result. 
In  both  cases,  if  more  corn  were  given,  it  would  in- 
crease, not  only  the  gain  of  flesh,  but  the  rate  of  profit 
on  the  animal. 

According  to  the  principle  stated  by  Mr.  Lawes, 
and  established  by  his  experiments,  it  seems  evident 
that,  with  a  good  breed  of  cattle,  from  three  to  four 
pounds  of  corn,  in  addition  to  the  above  proportion 
of  other  provender,  will  give  a  pound  of  beef. 

There  are  those  who  consider  the  effective  value 
of  corn  even  higher  than  this,  while  others  place  it 
quite  as  much  below  these  figures.  On  the  whole, 
we  think  it  may  safely  be  assumed,  that,  after  the 
animal  has  received  the  amount  of  food  necessary 
to  sustain  it,  every  four  pounds  of  corn  in  addition 
will  give  one  pound  of  beef,  provided  the  meal  is 
properly  fed,  by  being  well  mixed  with  the  other 
provender,  and  thoroughly  soaked  or  steamed. 

Now,  taking  the  case  of  the  steer  weighing  seven 
hundred  pounds,  let  us  see  what  the  beef  would  cost 
per  pound  by  this  estimate.  The  amount  of  feed  per 
week  was  assumed  to  be  one  hundred  and  twenty 


254  INDIAN   COBN. 

pounds  of  chaffed  stalks,  to  keep  up  his  condition, 
and  fifty-six  pounds  of  corn  to  fatten  him.  We  now 
find  that  fifty-six  pounds  of  corn  would  give  an  in- 
crease of  weight  to  the  animal  equal  to  fourteen 
pounds.  If  we  suppose  the  farmer  to  charge  his 
corn  at  one  dollar  per  bushel,  and  his  stalks  at  six 
dollars  per  ton,  the  account  would  stand  thus  : 

66  Ibs.  of  corn $1  00 

120    "    "    stalks..  32 


$1  32 
Deduct  value  of  manure 60* 

72 

The  farmer  here  gets  fourteen  pounds  of  beef  at  a 
cost  of  seventy-two  cents,  which  is  equal  to  five  and 
one-seventh  cents  per  pound,  while  the  profit  on  his 
corn  and  stover  is,  or  ought  to  be,  at  the  above  prices, 
over  one  hundred  per  cent. 

But  to  illustrate  the  principle  above  referred  to, 
and  to  show  the  effect  of  higher  feeding  upon  the  rate 
of  profit,  if  we  suppose  the  quantity  of  food  increased 
in  the  above  instance,  in  the  right  proportions,  it  will 
be  found  that  every  additional  pound  of  beef,  made 
by  such  increasing  in  the  amount  of  feed,  will  cost 
but  four  cents;  and  if  the  corn  and  stover  were 
charged  at  the  cost  of  production,  instead  of  at  the 
figures  above  given,  then  the  cost  of  the  beef  thus 
added  would  be  about  two  cents  per  pound. 

*  Some  farmers  consider  the  manure  of  a  well-fed  steer  equivalent 
to  $1.00  per  week. 


COST  OF  MAKING  BEEF  FROM  CORN.  255 

This  case  of  feeding,  which  is  given  as  an  illustra- 
tion merely,  would  not  be  strictly  followed  in  prac- 
tice, as  a  greater  variety  of  food  would  be  better  for 
the  animal,  and  would  not  materially  alter  the  result. 
Pulped  roots  may  always  be  used  with  advantage  in 
connection  with  corn-meal  and  stalks,  if  the  propor- 
tion is  properly  regulated. 

It  will  be  seen  that  if  the  farmer,  in  this  instance, 
sells  his  beef  at  cost,  he  gets  one  dollar  per  bushel  for 
his  corn,  and  six  dollars  per  ton  for  his  stalks,  out  of 
which,  however,  is  to  be  deducted  the  cost  of  grind- 
ing the  grain  and  chaffing  the  stalks. 

But  the  price  of  beef,  in  the  New  York  market, 
has  not  been  as  low  as  five  cents,  on  a  yearly  average, 
for  a  long  time.  The  price  for  the  last  year  (1865) 
averaged  about  eleven  cents,  and  for  the  last  six  years 
about  seven  cents  per  pound,  for  the  live  weight. 

If,  then,  he  sells  his  beef  at  the  average  price  of 
the  last  six  years,  he  realizes  for  his  corn  one  dollar 
and  fifteen  cents  per  bushel,  and  for  his  stalks  eight 
dollars  per  ton ;  while  if  he  gets  for  his  beef  the 
average  price  of  the  last  year,  it  pays  him  one  dollar 
and  sixty-one  cents  per  bushel  for  his  corn,  and  ten 
dollar  per  ton  for  his  stalks. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  price  realized  by 
the  farmer  for  his  corn,  for  different  prices  of  beef, 
and  also  for  different  amounts  of  corn '  required  in 
feeding,  to  produce  a  pound  of  beef.  Fractions  are 
here  omitted,  as  the  results  in  whole  numbers  are  suf- 
ficiently accurate  for  general  purposes : 


256 


INDIAN   COEN. 


BATIO  OF  OOEN 
TO  BEEF. 

PEIOE  OF 
BEEF. 

PEIOE   EEALIZED   FOE  COEN. 

Grain  per  bushel. 

Stalks  per  ton. 

Five  Ibs.  of  corn 
producing  one  Ib.  of 
beet 

5  cts. 
7    " 
9     " 
11     " 

$0  84 
1  01 
1  18 
1  40 

$6  00 
7  00 
8  00 
8  00 

Four  Ibs.  producing 
one  Ib. 

5  cts. 
7    " 
9     " 

$0  93 
1  15 
1  43 

$7  00 
8  00 
8  00 

11     " 

1  61 

10  00 

It  is  here  apparent  that  if  it  takes  five  pounds  of 
corn,  in  addition  to  the  other  feed,  to  produce  a  pound 
of  beef,  the  latter,  even  at  five  cents  a  pound,  pays 
eighty-four  cents  per  bushel  for  the  corn,  and  six  dol- 
lars per  ton  for  the  stalks.  Now,  if  the  farmer's 
corn  costs  him  thirty  cents  per  bushel  to  produce  it, 
which  is  about  the  average  cost  of  production  for  the 
whole  country,  then  it  leaves  him  a  margin  of  fifty- 
four  cents  per  bushel,  out  of  which  he  can  pay  for 
grinding  the  grain  and  chaffing  the  stalks,  and  a  profit 
will  still  remain. 

But  if  he  succeeds  in  raising  his  corn  at  a  cost  of 
twenty-five  cents  per  bushel,  and  converting  it  into 
beef  at  the  rate  of  four  pounds  for  one,  both  of  which 
are  entirely  possible,  then  at  the  average  market  price 
of  beef  for  the  last  six  years,  he  makes  a  profit  on  his 


COST  OF  MAKING  BEEF   FROM  COKKT.  257 

grain  of  ninety  cents  per  bushel,  while  the  margin  of 
profit  on  the  stalks  will  pay  for  grinding  the  former 
and  chaffing  the  latter. 

But  there  is  another  contingency  in  regard  to 
beef  which  the  farmer  may  avail  himself  of  with 
decided  advantage.  The  price  of  it  varies  with  the 
condition  of  the  animal.  This  is  an  important  con- 
sideration, and  too  often  overlooked.  A  very  fat  steer 
will  bring  a  higher  price  per  pound  than  a  lean  one, 
or  than  one  even  moderately  fat.  The  excess  of 
weight  produced  by  continued  high  feeding  is  sup- 
posed to  impart  an  extra  value  to  the  whole  animal. 
The  accession  of  fat  produced  by  the  last  ten  or 
twenty  bushels  of  corn  not  only  brings  its  own  higher 
price,  but,  at  the  same  time,  raises  the  price  of  the 
entire  carcass. 

This  final  increase  in  the  fleshiness  of  the  animal 
seems  to  convert  the  beef  from  an  article  of  necessity 
into  an  article  of  luxury,  and  carries  with  it  a  corre- 
sponding change  in  the  market  value.  "Whether  or 
not  there  is  any  sufficient  reason  for  this  distinction,  is 
not  for  the  farmer  to  inquire.  It  is  not  his  province 
to  determine  what  ought  to  fie,  but  to  shape  his  busi- 
ness according  to  what  is.  The  feeder,  therefore,  who 
judiciously  takes  advantage  of  this  well-known  fact, 
may  generally  realize  from  two  to  three  cents  a  pound 
more  for  his  beef  than  the  figures  in  the  table. 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  may  fairly  be  assumed  that 
the  farmer  who  makes  good  fat  beef  may  reasonably 
calculate  on  getting  eight  cents  a  pound  for  it,  on  a 
yearly  average.  In  that  case,  if  he  converts  his  corn 


258  INDIAN   CORN. 

into  beef  even  at  the  rate  of  five  pounds  for  one, 
allowing  his  corn  to  cost  thirty  cents  per  bushel,  and 
his  stalks  three  dollars  per  ton,  it  will  bring  the  cost 
of  his  beef  to  about  four  cents  per  pound,  even  with- 
out taking  the  manure  into  account,  and  the  profit  on 
his  corn  will  be  forty-three  cents  per  bushel. 

But  if  he  makes  four  pounds  of  corn  (in  addition 
to  the  other  feed)  produce  a  pound  of  beef,  and  counts 
his  manure  at  its  true  value,  then  he  realizes  a  profit 
on  his  corn  of  ninety-five  cents  per  bushel,  and  on  the 
stover  of  five  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  ton ;  which 
is  nearly  the  same  thing  as  five  dollars  a  ton  for  the 
stalks  and  one  dollar  a  bushel  for  the  corn.  These 
figures,  for  an  average  profit,  ought  to  be  satisfactory. 
Some  farmers  have  done  better  ;  and  every  man  who 
finds  his  profit  falling  much  below  this,  has  reason 
to  suspect  that  there  is  something  wrong  either  in  his 
method  of  raising  corn,  or  in  his  method  of  feeding  it. 

There  is  probably  no  part  of  the  farmer's  occupa- 
tion that  requires  more  careful  and  constant  attention 
than  the  feeding  of  his  stock,  and  none  that  depends 
so  much  for  success  upon  the  exercise  of  intelligence, 
good  sense,  and  sound  judgment. 

"  Cattle  feeding,"  as  the  Springfield  Republican 
very  justly  remarks,  "  is  a  science  of  trade,  to  be 
studied  and  learned  like  any  other.  Qualities  and 
quantities  are  not  the  only  things  requisite  in  the  care 
of  domestic  animals.  Regularity,  cleanliness,  com- 
fort, and  quiet  repose  are  elements  of  thrift,  not  to  be 
lightly  considered.  In  the  application  of  these  is 
shown  the  skill  of  the  herdsman.  One  man  will 


COST  OF  MAKING  BEEF  FROM  CORN.      259 

/ 

make  the  same  amount  of  feed  go  further  and  accom- 
plish more  than  another.  A  great  deal  depends  on 
knowing  how.  A  herdsman  does  not  become  full 
fledged  instantaneously.  Among  the  first  steps  in 
progress  are  the  consciousness  of  ignorance,  and  the 
desire  to  learn." 


COST  OF  POKK  MADE  FEOM  COKK 

THE  grain  that  is  usually  and  almost  exclusively 
employed  in  this  country  for  fattening  pigs,  is  Indian 
corn.  It  is  found  to  be  more  efficient  and  economical 
than  any  other,  and  imparts  to  the  pork  an  unrivalled 
solidity  and  flavor.  Other  grains  in  smaller  quanti- 
ties are  sometimes  mixed  with  this,  and  if  the  propor- 
tion is  not  too  large  may  be  employed  to  advantage. 

Corn  that  is  fed  to  swine  should  invariably  be 
ground,  and  the  meal  steamed  or  boiled  before  feed- 
ing. Its  nutritive  effect  and  fattening  power  are  sur- 
prisingly increased  by  this  treatment,  and  the  prac- 
tice of  the  most  successful  feeders  has  proved  its  util- 
ity so  clearly  as  to  place  it  beyond  any  doubt. 

It  is  found  that  corn  is  more  effective  when  fed  to 
hogs  than  in  the  case  of  neat  cattle,  and  produces  a 
larger  amount  of  pork  than  of  beef  for  each  bushel 
consumed.  Successful  farmers  have  not  unfrequently 
obtained  a  pound  of  pork  by  feeding  from  two  to 
three  pounds  of  corn.  The  gain  of  flesh  per  day  with 
good  feeding  will  reach  from  one  to  three  pounds,  and 
has  been  known  to  reach  three  and  a  half  pounds.  It 


COST  OF  POBK  MADE  FROM   COEN.  261 

is  almost  incredible  how  cheaply  pork  may  be  pro- 
duced  with  a  good  breed  of  hogs,  if  well  fed  and  well 
managed. 

Kr.  J.  Sibley,  of  Wayne  County,  K  Y.,  has  re- 
ported to  the  Country  Gentleman,  that  four  hundred 
and  twelve  pounds  of  pork,  made  mostly  from  corn, 
cost  him  twelve  dollars  and  ninety-three  cents,  which 
is  a  trine  over  three  cents  per  pound.  If  the  value 
of  the  manure  had  been  reckoned  in  this  estimate,  as 
it  ought  to  be,  the  cost  of  the  pork  would  have  been 
between  two  and  three  cents  per  pound. 

Nathan  G-.  Morgan,  of  Union  Springs,  1ST.  Y.,  as 
stated  in  Tucker's  Annual  Register,  considers  the 
value  of  corn  doubled  by  grinding  the  grain  and  scald- 
ing the  meal,  and  finds  that,  at  five  cents  per  pound 
for  pork,  he  gets  one  dollar  per  bushel  for  his  corn. 

William  Yan  Loom,  in  a  communication  to  the 
Prairie  Farmer,  says  that  he  has  practised  feeding 
boiled  corn,  and  is  satisfied  that  one  bushel  thus  pre- 
pared is  equal  to  two  bushels  fed  raw.  In  one  exper- 
iment he  found  that  three  pounds  of  cooked  corn  gave 
one  pound  of  pork. 

Gates  Henry,  of  Schuylkill  County,  Pa.,  has  stated 
in  a  prize  article  to  the  Agriculturist,  that  by  feeding 
his  hogs  fifteen  to  twenty  bushels  of  corn  each,  he 
has  usually  made  the  weight  from  four  hundred  to  five 
hundred  pounds.  He  does  not  state  that  the  whole 
of  this  weight  was  produced  by  the  corn  exclusively, 
yet  it  is  evident  that  the  corn  was  converted  into  pork 
at  a  handsome  profit,  bringing  the  cost  of  the  latter 
to  a  low  figure. 


262  INDIAN   CORN. 

"  A  very  successful  manager,"  says  the  editor  of 
the  Country  Gentleman,  "with  whose  treatment  we 
are  well  acquainted,  pours  six  parts  of  hot  water  on 
one  part  of  ground  Indian  meal,  and  then  allows  it 
to  stand  twelve  to  eighteen  hours,  until  the  whole  is 
swollen  to  a  thick  mass,  when  it  is  given  to  the  ani- 
mals. He  finds  boiling  water  better  than  cold  for 
this  purpose,  but  the  mixture  undergoes  little  or  no 
fermentation.  So  successful  is  his  management,  that 
in  connection  with  the  selection  of  good  breeds,  and 
regular  feeding  and  cleanliness,  he  usually  obtains  one 
pound  of  pork  from  feeding  three  pounds  of  corn." 

Mr.  J.  "W.  Zigler,  of  Indiana,  according  to  a  state- 
ment made  by  him  in  the  Western  Rural,  fed  fifteen 
hogs  with  corn  for  forty-two  days,  during  which  time 
the  average  gain  per  hog  was  nearly  three  pounds  per 
day,  and  the  pork  was  at  the  rate  of  one  pound  for 
every  three  pounds  of  corn.  The  pork  was  sold  in 
Chicago  at  ten  and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  giving 
him  a  net  profit  of  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars. 

Mr.  Baldwin,  an  English  breeder  of  some  note, 
has  used  Indian  corn,  barley  meal,  and  ground  peas 
in  fattening  hogs,  but  gives  the  preference  to  the  corn. 
He  finds  that  two  pounds  of  it  will  produce  a  pound 
of  pork.  This  result  is  higher  than  usual,  and  is 
probably  in  part  due  to  the  breed  of  the  animal. 

Though  most  of  the  above  figures  are  better  than 
the  average  experience  of  feeders,  they  might  gener- 
ally be  equalled,  and  some  of  them  surpassed  by  a 
majority  of  farmers,  if  more  careful  attention  were 
given  to  the  subject. 


COST   OF  PORK  MADE   FEOM   COKff.  263 

It  will  be  found,  if  the  value  of  the  manure  is 
taken  into  the  account,  that  when  three  pounds  of 
corn  produce  one  pound  of  pork,  the  latter,  at  six 
cents  a  pound,  pays  one  dollar  and  twenty-eight  cents 
per  bushel  for  the  corn.  As  the  average  price  of 
pork,  for  the  last  six  years,  was  over  six  cents  per 
pound  for  the  live  weight,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
to  believe  that  it  will  be  below  that  figure  for  some 
years  to  come. 

For  1865  the  yearly  average  for  pork  was  over 
twelve  cents  per  pound.  At  this  price,  the  farmer 
who  makes  three  pounds  of  corn  equivalent  to  one  of 
pork,  gets  two  dollars  and  forty  cents  per  bushel  for 
his  corn,  which  is  certainly  a  rate  of  profit  that  in 
most  kinds  of  business  would  be  deemed  very  satis- 
factory. 

The  following  table  gives  the  prices  realized  for 
corn  at  several  different  prices  for  pork,  and  for  dif- 
•ferent  ratios  of  corn  to  pork  in  feeding.  The  manure 
is  rated  at  six  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  each  ton  of 
feed  consumed,  which  is  about  the  usual  estimate, 
though  less  than  its  real  value  to  the  farmer  who 
rightly  uses  it : 


264: 


INDIAN   COEN. 


RATIO  OF  OOEN  TO 

Price  of  pork. 

Price  realized  for  corn  per 

POKE:. 

bushel. 

5  cts. 

$0  86 

Four  pounds  producing  one 

6     « 

1  00 

pound. 

7     " 

1  14 

8     " 

1  28 

5  cts. 

$1  09 

Three  pounds  producing  one 

6     " 

1  28 

pound. 

7    " 

1  4V 

8    " 

1  65 

5  cts. 

$1  56 

Two  pounds  producing  one 

6     " 

1  84 

pound. 

7  " 

2  12 

8    " 

2  40 

As  there  is,  at  the  present  time,  an  unusual  scar- 
city of  hogs  in  the  United  States,  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  the  range  of  prices  for  pork  will  rule 
higher,  for  some  time  to  come,  than  the  average  of 
the  last  six  years. 

The  farmer,  therefore,  who  converts  three  pounds 
of  corn  into  one  pound  of  pork,  allowing  the  corn  to 
stand  him  in  thirty  cents  per  bushel,  which  is  more 
than  it  ought  to,  will  bring  the  cost  of  his  pork  at  less 
than  two  cents  per  pound,  with  a  prospect  of  realizing 
not  less  than  seven  cents,  which  will  make  the  profit 


COST  OF  PORK  MADE  FROM  CORN.  265 

on  his  corn  one  dollar  per  bushel,  without  counting 
the  manure. 

The  amount  of  pork  required  to  meet  the  demand 
for  consumption-  and  export,  may  be  partly  judged 
from  the  fact,  that  the  total  receipt  of  hogs  in  New 
York  city  for  the  last  year  was  about  six  hundred 
thousand,  and  the  amount  exported  from  the  same  city 
was  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  barrels. 
As  the  demand  is  likely  to  increase  more  rapidly  than 
the  supply,  farmers  will  probably  find  it  their  interest 
to  augment  their  stock  of  hogs,  and  turn  them  to  the 
best  account  by  feeding  them  up  to  a  heavier  weight 
than  usual,  before  sending  them  to  market. 

12 


COST  OF  MUTTON  MADE  FROM  CORK 


to  the  latest  opinions  and  experience 
of  sheep  -farmers  and  others,  it  seems  to  be  generally 
concluded,  that  corn  is  quite  as  well  adapted  for 
making  mutton,  as  for  beef  or  pork.  In  the  absence 
of  definite  experiments,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine 
the  precise  value  of  this  grain  in  the  production  of 
mutton;  but  in  a  comparative  view,  and  reasoning 
from  analogy,  we  have  ground  for  believing  that,  un- 
der favorable  conditions,  three  pounds  of  corn  will 
produce  a  pound  of  mutton. 

According  to  Mr.  Sanford  Howard,  "  it  has  been 
proved  that  a  given  quantity  of  meat  can  be  produced 
from  the  sheep  at  as  little,  and  in  some  cases  less  ex- 
pense, than  from  any  other  animal  ;  and  so  far  as  can 
be  ascertained,  the  meat  is  fully  equal  in  nutritive 
properties.  Here,  then,  we  have  from  the  sheep  at 
least  an  equal  amount  of  meat,  as  compared  with  any 
other  animal,  for  the  food  consumed,  while  we  obtain 
the  fleece  as  clear  gain." 

It  is  stated  by  the  editor  of  the  Agriculturist,  that 
mutton  is  more  economically  made,  and  more  ad  van- 


COST   OF  MUTTON   MADE   FROM   COEN.  267 

tageously  used  up  than  pork  or  beef.  He  also  further 
adds,  that  "  more  grain  is  required  to  make  a  pound 
of  pork  than  a  pound  of  mutton,"  and  that  the  latter 
"  is  more  nutritious,  and  will  consequently  give  a  la- 
borer more  strength  than  pork."  These  statements 
are,  no  doubt,  entirely  true,  and  if  true,  are  very  im- 
portant, and  ought  to  be  more  generally  understood 
and  acted  upon. 

At  the  present  time,  when  hogs  are  more  than 
ordinarily  scarce,  it  is  certain  that  mutton  can  be 
made,  with  prudent  management,  at  a  handsome 
profit,  and  the  occasion  is  favorable  for  inaugurating 
a  more  general,  if  not  universal,  consumption  of  this 
healthful  and  nutritious  food. 

It  is  at  least  a  reasonable  presumption,  that  an 
animal  carrying  with  it,  like  the  sheep,  a  twofold 
source  of  profit,  in  its  mutton  and  its  wool,  ought  to 
be  turned  by  the  farmer  to  a  very  lucrative  account, 
provided  his  attention  is  duly  divided  between  the 
two  objects,  and  not  entirely  monopolized  by  either. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted,  that  whenever 
the  sheep,  with  its  double  value  of  fleece  and  flesh, 
fails  to  prove  highly  remunerative,  there  is  misman- 
agement somewhere,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that 
some  part  of  the  fault  lies  in  the  feeding. 

But  in  addition  to  the  value  of  the  fleece,  another 
advantage  in  making  mutton  is  found  in  the  superior 
quality  of  the  manure.  Mr.  Johnston,  of  Geneva,  who 
has  been  very  successful  in  feeding  sheep  for  the  mut- 
ton, considers  this  source  of  profit  a  very  important  feat- 
ure of  the  business.  There  is  probably  no  land  so  poor, 


INDIAN   CORN. 

no  soil  so  hopeless,  that  it  may  not  be  restored  under 
a  system  of  sheep-husbandry.  There  seems  to  be  a  nat- 
ural antagonism  between  a  poor  soil  and  a  flock  of 
sheep.  Wherever  the  latter  goes  the  former  disappears. 
Sterility  of  land  flees  from  the  presence  of  these  useful 
animals,  and  the  invasion  of  an  unfertile  region  by 
the  shepherd  and  his  flock  is  the  unfailing  harbinger 
of  green  meadows  and  prolific  fields  of  grain. 

Taking  into  account,  then,  the  value  of  the  manure, 
and  the  value  of  the  fleece,  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  whenever  the  cost  of  producing  mutton  is  fully 
and  fairly  tested,  by  accurate  experiments  in  feeding, 
it  will  be  found  a  cheaper  article  of  food  than  is  at 
present  suspected.  It  will  also  probably  be  found  that 
it  can  be  made  at  a  less  expense,  and  of  better  quality, 
from  the  grain  and  stover  of  corn  (with  a  due  propor- 
tion of  other  feed),  than  in  any  other  way. 

The  weight  and  quality  of  the  fleece  varies,  of 
course,  with  the  breed.  On  a  comparison  of  those 
breeds  that  are  preferred  for  their  flesh,  the  average 
value  of  the  clip  would  doubtless  cover  half  the  expense 
of  feeding,  and  still  leave  a  fair  profit  on  the  wool.  In 
the  opinion  of  many,  the  fleece  would  give  a  better 
result  than  this.  The  value  of  the  manure  is  prob- 
ably equal  to  one-fourth  of  the  expense  of  feeding, 
and  the  remaining  fourth  represents  the  cost  of  the 
mutton. 

Probably  the  value  here  assumed  for  the  manure 
will,  by  some,  be  considered  too  high,  and  that  for 
the  fleece  too  low.  If  so,  one  would  offset  the  other, 
and  the  result  would  still  be  the  same. 


COST   OF   MUTTON   MADE   FKOM   CORN.  269 

Then,  if  we  assume  that  in  feeding  sheep  four 
pounds  of  corn  will  produce,  on  an  average,  one  pound 
of  flesh,  though  it  is  nearly  certain  the  result  would 
be  better  than  this,  we  shall  have  one  pound  of  corn 
as  the  cost  of  a  pound  of  mutton. 

Supposing  the  corn  to  cost  the  farmer  thirty  cents 
a  bushel,  this  would  bring  the  cost  of  the  mutton  at 
half  a  cent  a  pound,  and  if  we  add  for  attendance, 
etc.,  as  much  more,  the  entire  cost  would  be  one  cent, 
which,  after  allowing  a  liberal  profit  to  the  farmer, 
would  still  leave  this  meat  accessible  to  the  million, 
at  a  price  that  would  render  it  the  most  economical, 
as  it  is  the  most  healthful,  description  of  animal  food. 

In  computing  four  pounds  of  corn,  in  the  above 
estimate,  as  equal  to  one  pound  of  flesh,  it  is  not,  of 
course,  designed  to  make  corn  the  exclusive  feed.  The 
principle  intended  to  be  illustrated  may,  perhaps,  be 
more  clearly  stated  as  follows:  In  the  use  of  any 
variety  of  healthy  food,  judiciously  blended,  and  com- 
prising a  due  proportion  of  corn,  an  amount  of  it 
equal  in  nutritive  value  to  four  pounds  of  corn  will 
produce  a  pound  of  flesh. 


COST   OF  BUTTER  A1STD  CHEESE   MADE 
FROM  CORK 

IT  would  be  natural  to  conclude,  from  the  essential 
nature  and  quality  of  Indian  corn,  that  it  must  be 
well  adapted  to  the  production  of  butter.  This  con- 
clusion is  confirmed  by  chemical  investigation,  and  is 
further  ratified  by  the  results  of  experience. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  effect  of  corn  meal  is  to 
improve  the  quality  of  the  milk,  and  make  it  richer, 
by  imparting  to  it  a  larger  proportion  of  the  con- 
stituents of  butter  and  cheese.  How  far  it  affects  the 
quantity  of  milk,  as  compared  with  some  other  kinds 
of  feed,  has  not  been  very  definitely  determined.  But 
for  improving  the  flavor  and  increasing  the  amount 
of  cheese  and  butter,  it  is  found  to  be  well  adapted, 
and  is  thought  by  many  to  excel  most  kinds  of  feed. 

It  is  also  found  that  the  stover  of  corn  has  the 
same  general  tendency  as  the  grain,  though  in  a  less 
degree.  Its  most  favorable  effect  and  highest  value 
are  only  realized  when  the  object  is  especially  to  pro- 
duce a  copious  flow  of  milk.  For  this  purpose,  the 
succulent  stalk  of  Indian  corn,  whether  fed  green  in 


COST  OF  BUTTER  AND  CHEESE  MADE  FKOM  COKN.     271 

summer  and  fall,  or  well  cured,  chaffed,  and  steamed, 
in  winter,  is  probably  not  surpassed,  if  equalled,  by 
any  provender  in  use. 

Thus  the  combined  result  produced  by  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  corn,  one  having  a  special  influence  on 
the  milk,  and  the  other  a  similar  effect  on  the  butter 
and  cheese,  seems  to  indicate  the  peculiar  fitness  and 
value  of  this  cereal  for  the  purposes  of  the  dairy. 

What  amount  of  this  feed  would  be  required  for 
a  given  quantity  of  butter,  has  not  yet  been  very 
accurately  determined.  Some  estimates  have  been 
made  rating  the  effective  value  of  corn  at  from  five 
to  eight  pounds  for  producing  one  pound  of  butter. 
In  some  experiments  that  have  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  author,  the  result  was  less  than  five  pounds  of 
corn  for  one  of  butter. 

Comparative  estimates  have  also  been  made  as  to 
the  relative  amounts  of  beef  and  milk  resulting  from 
a  given  quantity  of  feed.  Sir  John  Sinclair,  as  cited 
by  Professor  Johnston,  has  stated  that  the  same 
provender  which  gives  one  hundred  and  twelve 
pounds  of  beef  will  yield  three  thousand  six  hundred 
pounds  of  milk.  But  this  is  undoubtedly  erroneous ; 
the  disproportion  in  favor  of  milk  being  greater  than 
experience  warrants  us  in  crediting. 

The  estimate  of  Eiedesel,  a  Continental  writer, 
is  rather  more  reasonable,  but  still  not  accurate. 
According  to  the  latter  authority,  the  hay  that  gives 
one  hundred  pounds  of  beef  will  give  one  thousand 
pounds  of  milk.  Allowing  twenty  pounds  of  the  lat- 
ter for  one  of  butter,  which  is  about  the  general 


272  INDIAN  COKN. 

average,  this  would  give  fifty  pounds  of  butter  from 
the  same  feed  that  produces  one  hundred  pounds  of 
beef.  This  estimate,  though  it  comes  nearer  than  the 
previous  one,  errs  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  the 
truth  undoubtedly  lies  between  them. 

Others  have  computed  the  ratio  of  butter  to  beef, 
on  equal  quantities  of  feed,  as  eighty  to  one  hundred, 
which  is  evidently  more  reasonable  than  either  of  the 
others,  and  seems  to  be  very  nearly  correct.  Com- 
paring this  with  the  proportion  of  beef  to  corn,  as 
given  on  a  former  page,  it  will  be  found  that,  for  a 
pound  of  butter  it  would  require  five  pounds  of 
corn,  over  and  above  the  stover,  or  other  feed  given 
to  sustain  the  cow.  Then,  by  the  same  calculation 
that  gave  fourteen  pounds  of  beef  for  seventy-two 
cents,  we  shall  have  eleven  and  one-fifth  pounds  of 
butter  for  the  same  sum,  which  is  about  six  and  one- 
half  cents  per  pound. 

In  this  calculation  the  farmer  has  charged  his  corn 
at  one  dollar  per  bushel,  and  his  stalks  at  six  dollars 
per  ton.  If  these  were  charged  at  the  expense*  of 
producing  them,  the  effect  would  be  to  bring  the  cost 
of  the  butter  to  about  four  cents  per  pound,  without 
taking  the  manure  into  the  account.  If  the  expense 
of  grinding  the  corn  and  chaffing  the  stalks  were 
added  to  this,  and  also  the  expense  for  labor  in  making 
the  butter^  the  cost  of  the  latter  would  still  not  proba- 
bly exceed  six  or  seven  cents  per  pound. 

In  dairies  devoted  to  cheese,  the  total  product  of 

*  Calling  the  expense  thirty  cents  per  bushel  for  the  grain,  and 
three  dollars  per  ton  for  the  stalks. 


COST  OF  BUTTER  AOT)   CHEESE   MA  DTP.   FROM   CORN.     273 

this  article  per  cow  is  much  larger  than  that  of  butter, 
and  the  relative  value  proportionally  less.  It  is  found 
that  on  the  same  amount  of  feed,  a  cow  will  produce 
from  two  to  three  times  more  cheese  than  butter. 
This  ratio  is  not  uniform  nor  constant,  but  varies  with 
the  breed  of  the  cow,  etc.  On  a  general  average,  it 
is  estimated  by  many  farmers,  that  a  cow  will  give 
two  and  a  half  pounds  of  cheese  for  one  pound  of 
butter.  Some  others  make  the  proportion  about 
two  to  one.  If  we  assume  the  latter  to  be  the 
true  proportion,  it  will  bring  the  cost  of  cheese  to 
three  and  one-fourth  cents  per  pound,  when  the 
farmer  charges  his  corn  at  one  dollar  per  bushel,  and 
the  stalks  at  six  dollars  per  ton,  or  to  two  cents  per 
pound,  when  the  corn  and  stover  are  charged  at  the 
cost  of  production.  After  a  fair  allowance  for  the 
expense  of  labor  in  preparing  the  feed,  making  the 
cheese,  etc.,  it  would  probably  be  found  that  the  cost 
of  the  latter  would  be  about  four  or  five  cents  per  Ib. 

The  above  estimates  for  butter  and  cheese  are 
based  on  the  methods  of  making  them  usually  prac- 
tised by  farmers.  But  recent  improvements  have 
been  introduced,  and  plans  adopted,  that  have  a  ten- 
dency to  modify  and  reduce  the  cost  of  production  in 
the  case  of  these  articles.  They  are  now  extensively 
made  by  associations  that  have  proved  remarkably  suc- 
cessful in  producing  both  cheese  and  butter,  especially 
the  former,  at  a  great  advantage  and  with  diminished 
expense. 

The  foreign  demand  also  that  has  recently  sprung 
up  for  cheese  made  from  skimmed  milk  cannot  fail  to 
12* 


274  INDIAN  CORN. 

have  the  effect  of  increasing  the  profit  on  butter,  by 
enabling  the  farmer,  after  the  cream  is  taken  from  the 
milk,  to  turn  the  latter  to  a  more  lucrative  account 
than  formerly. 

Yet  these  circumstances  can  have  no  material 
effect  upon  the  principle  on  which  the  above  esti- 
mates are  based.  "Whatever  changes  may  be  made 
either  now  or  hereafter  in  the  plan  of  making  butter 
and  cheese,  yet  the  modes  of  feeding,  the  varieties  of 
food,  and  the  proportions  of  them,  remain  the  same. 
The  principles  of  feeding  that  we  have  endeavored  to 
illustrate,  as  well  as  the  relative  value  of  corn,  and 
the  advantage  of  using  it  in  due  proportion,  if  found 
correct  in  one  case,  will  prove  equally  so  in  the 
other. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  FEEDING  PKOFITABLE. 

IT  is  generally  understood,  and  appears  from  the 
preceding  investigation,  that  when  the  feeder  sells  his 
beef  and  mutton  or  the  dairyman  his  butter  and 
cheese,  whatever  the  price  they  bring,  and  whatever 
the  margin  over  the  cost,  there  are  two  classes  of  ex- 
penses to  be  deducted,  and  two  separate  profits  to  be 
secured.  When  the  farmer  realizes  on  the  sale  of  his 
butter,  beef,  and  other  products,  a  net  result  that  gives 
him  a  fair  profit  on  these  articles  over  the  cost  and 
care  of  feeding,  and  a  similar  margin  on  the  corn  and 
other  feed  by  which  they  were  produced,  he  closes  up 
the  business  of  the  year  with  a  satisfactory  balance  on 
the  right  side  of  the  account,  and  is  entitled  to  con- 
sider himself  a  successful  man. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  discovers,  on  the  sale  of 
those  products,  that  the  expense  of  feeding  and  the 
cost  of  cultivation  have  not  been  reimbursed,  and  that 
after  a  year  of  toil  there  are  no  net  gains  to  be  count- 
ed, he  may  justly  suspect,  that  in  some  one  or  several 
of  the  processes  and  operations  of  his  farm  there  has 
been  either  culpable  neglect,  or  needless  and  inexcu- 
sable want  of  information,  or  very  possibly  both. 


276  INDIAN   CORN. 

He  may  vainly  attempt  to  divide  the  blame  be- 
tween an  incorrigible  soil  on  the  one  hand  that  refuses 
to  reward  a  slovenly  mode  of  culture,  and  an  obstinate 
class  of  animals  on  the  other,  that  do  not  choose  to 
fatten  upon  neglect :  but  if  he  will  reflect  upon  the 
nature  of  his  business,  and  consider  how  many  separate 
and  distinct  operations  there  are  upon  which  the 
profit  of  his  butter  and  beef  mainly  depend,  he  will 
find  his  want  of  success  easily  explained. ,  He  will 
discover  that,  in  all  the  different  processes  from  which 
pork,  mutton,  and  beef  are  the  final  result,  no  one  of 
them  can  be  overlooked  or  disregarded,  without  some 
diminution  of  his  ultimate  profits. 

This  important  reflection,  though  seldom  duly 
weighed,  deserves  the  serious  consideration  of  every 
man  who  cultivates  the  soil.  Between  the  planting 
of  the  corn  and  the  slaughtering  of  the  ox  there  are 
more  than  a  score  of  separate  operations,  each  one  of 
which  produces  an  effect  on  the  cost  of  the  beef. 

If  the  farmer  plants  his  corn  a  little  too  deep,  or 
too  late  in  the  season,  or  too  close  together,  or  too  far 
apart ;  if  he  applies  the  wrong  kind  of  manure,  or  the 
wrong  quantity,  or  at  the  wrong  time,  or  fails  to  apply 
any ;  if  his  ground  is  imperfectly  ploughed,  or  ploughed 
at  the  wrong  time ;  if  he  handles  the  horse-hoe  care- 
lessly or  too  seldom ;  if  his  corn  is  cut  out  of  season  or 
defectively  cured ;  if  it  is  fed  to  his  animals  in  an  un- 
suitable condition,  neither  ground,  cut,  nor  steamed ; 
if  they  are  fed  too  seldom,  or  too  much  at  one  time 
and  too  little  at  another ;  if  the  feed  is  deficient  in 
variety,  or  combined  in  the  wrong  proportions  ; — each 


HOW   TO   MAKE   DEEDING   PROFITABLE.  277 

one  of  these  separate  contingencies,  as  well  as  many 
others  not  mentioned,  exerts  its  own  peculiar  influence, 
small  in  some  cases  but  great  in  others,  upon  the  cost 
of  beef,  pork,  and  all  similar  products,  and  each  one 
of  these  helps  to  determine  the  question  whether  the 
final  result  will  be  a  profit  or  a  loss. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  cost  and  the  profit  of 
these  products  have  already  begun  to  accrue  when,  in 
early  spring,  the  farmer  strikes  the  first  furrow  in  his 
cornfield,  and  the  plough  in  his  hand  becomes  a 
mathematical  instrument  that  helps  to  solve  a  ques- 
tion of  figures.  It  may,  in  fact,  be  said  with  truth, 
that  still  earlier  than  the  spring  this  question  of  cost 
has  begun  to  be  solved.  "When  in  the  previous  fall 
the  cultivator  goes  into  the  field  to  select  his  seed-corn 
for  the  following  crop,  even  then  he  settles,  in  that 
brief  interval  of  time,  one  of  the  important  contingen- 
cies on  which  his  future  profits  are  suspended. 

Considering,  then,  how  many  distinct  operations 
the  farmer  goes  through,  before  reaching  his  final  re- 
sults, and  how  certainly  these  results  are  affected  by 
each  operation  and  by  his  manner  of  performing  it, 
it  is  scarcely  surprising  that  experience  differs  so 
widely  in  regard  to  the  profit  of  feeding.  It  would 
seem  that  in  farming,  as  in  every  other  business,  suc- 
cess depends,  after  all,  more  upon  the  man  than  on 
any  other  cause.  Some  men  are  constantly  seeking  in- 
formation and  accumulating  knowledge,  while  others 
prefer  to  cleave  to  their  ignorance.  One  man  con- 
trives to  do  every  thing  nearly  right,  while  another  is 


278  INDIAN   COEN. 

equally  infallible  in  doing  every  thing  nearly  or  quite 
wrong. 

It  is  easy,  then,  to  perceive  that,  if  in  the  produc- 
tion of  butter  or  beef  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  dif- 
ferent processes  to  be  gone  through,  and  one  man 
adopts  the  best  method  in  each,  while  another  per- 
forms each  imperfectly  or  not  at  all,  their  experience 
in  the  end  will  be  entirely  opposite ;  one  making  a 
certain  profit  and  the  other  incurring  inevitable  loss. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  each  one  of  these  various  pro- 
cesses might  make  a  difference,  on  an  average,  of 
nearly  one  cent  a  pound  in  the  cost  of  beef  or  mutton, 
and  of  several  cents  per  bushel  in  the  cost  of  corn. 

If,  then,  every  farmer  who  embarks  in  feeding 
stock  for  market,  or  in  making  butter  or  cheese,  would 
adopt  the  obvious  course  suggested  by  these  reflec- 
tions, giving  careful  attention  to  each  particular  pro- 
cess all  the  way  through,  and  making  sure  that  each 
one  is  rightly  performed  and  at  the  proper  time,  he 
would  find  that  feeding  can  be  made  a  profitable 
business,  and  that  by  using  all  his  faculties,  mental  as 
well  as  physical,  his  success  would  be  morally  certain. 


MISCELLANEOUS  USES   OF  COKK 

THOUGH  the  principal  value  of  maize  is  due  to  its 
nutritive  property,  and  its  highest  importance  lies  in 
the  amount  and  quality  of  the  food  it  supplies,  there 
are  yet  other  and  various  economical  purposes  for 
which  the  several  parts  of  it  have  been  found  to  be 
well  adapted. 

PAPER  AND  CLOTH. — Many  attempts  have  been 
made,  with  various  success,  to  use  the  fibre  of  corn  in 
the  manufacture  of  paper.  This  fibre  is  contained  in 
the  husk,  stalk,  and  leaves ;  but  a  larger  proportion 
of  it,  and  perhaps  a  better  quality,  is  found  in  the 
husk.  The  attempts  to  produce  paper  from  this  fibre 
have  not  thus  far  been  very  successful  in  this  country, 
but  in  Austria  a  process  has  been  discovered  and 
patented  for  making  a  very  superior  article  of  corn- 
fibre  paper,  of  various  grades,  and  of  the  finest  and 
strongest  texture. 

The  inventor  of  this  process  is  Chevalier  Auer 
Yan  Welsbach,  a  native  of  Austria,  and  a  member  of 
the  Imperial  Government.  His  experiments  have 
been  conducted  for  a  series  of  years  under  the  patron- 


280  INDIAN   CORN. 

I 

age  of  the  government,  and  have  resulted  successfully 
in  rendering  the  fibre  of  maize  entirely  capable  of 
conversion  into  paper  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  cloth. 

A  variety  of  samples  in  our  possession  seem  to 
establish,  beyond  any  doubt,  the  excellence  of  this 
paper,  and  the  fitness  of  corn-fibre  for  producing  it. 
It  is  confidently  asserted  that  the  cost  of  making  it 
from  this  material  is  less,  compared  with  the  quality, 
than  from  any  other  material  known.  From  the 
finest  tissue  to  the  strongest  hardware  paper,  every 
intervening  grade  has  been  produced  by  this  Austrian 
process. 

It  has  been  officially  stated  that,  on  the  authority 
of  artists  and  literary  institutions,  it  is  shown  that 
from  no  other  material,  so  far  known,  official,  draw- 
ing, or  tracing  papers  of  such  durability  and  tenacity, 
at  equally  low  prices,  have  been  produced.  It  is  also 
asserted  that  the  better  qualities  of  post,  fancy,  and 
colored  papers  made  of  this  fibre  compete  successfully 
with  the  finest  of  the  same  kind  made  from  rags. 

It  is  also  a  remarkable  fact  that,  from  the  same 
fibre  of  corn  that  is  found  capable  of  producing  this 
diversity  of  papers,  various  grades  and  textures  of 
cloth  have  been  made,  from  the  thin  fabric  used  for 
summer  clothing  to  the  strongest  oil-cloth. 

It  seems  a  strange  and  almost  incredible  thing, 
that  a  plant  grown  in  this  country  to  greater  extent 
and  perfection  than  anywhere  else,  should  be  first 
applied  to  new  and  valuable  uses  under  a  European 
invention.  Yankee  ingenuity,  so  long  proverbial 
throughout  the  world,  has  in  this  instance  been 


MISCELLANEOUS   USES   OF  CORN.  281 

thrown  in  the  shade,  and  will  need  to  look  to  its  lau- 
rels. 

One  thing  is  certain :  if  these  fabrics  can  be  pro- 
duced, by  the  Austrian  process,  at  the  prices  and  of 
the  qualities  claimed  for  them,  which  there  seems  no 
reason  to  doubt,  it  is  clearly  the  interest  of  this  coun- 
try to  have  the  invention  applied  on  a  large  scale 
among  the  cornfields  of  the  West.  Whenever  the 
maize  plant  shall  be  made  to  produce  largely,  and  at 
a  moderate  and  paying  price,  other  articles  of  utility 
and  value  besides  food,  it  will  undoubtedly  give  a 
new  impulse  to  the  growth  and  affluence  of  the 
country. 

SYEUP  AND  SUGAE. — It  has  long  been  known  that 
syrup  can  be  made  from  the  stalks  of  maize,  and 
recently  it  has  been  ascertained  that  it  may  be  suc- 
cessfully produced  from  the  grain.  Yarious  attempts 
have  been  made  to  convert  this  syrup  into  sugar,  but 
thus  far  with  doubtful  success.  The  syrup  made 
from  the  stalk  of  corn  is  said  to  be  of  fair  quality, 
but  will  probably  never  be  able  to  compete  with  that 
produced  from  the  Sorghum,  now  very  generally  and 
widely  cultivated  for  the  purpose. 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the  syrup 
produced,  by  a  late  invention,  from  the  grain  of  the 
corn  plant,  will  be  able  to  compete  successfully  with 
most  others  in  the  market,  in  regard  to  quality  and 
price.  This  syrup  is  the  product  of  the  starch  of 
corn,  and  may  be  made  from  that  element  more 
readily  and  less  expensively  than  from  the  grain  it- 
self. It  is  found  that  a  bushel  of  corn  will  yield  three 


282  INDIAN  CORN. 

gallons  of  the  syrup,  and  the  quality  is  by  good  judges 
pronounced  excellent. 

DISTILLATION. — This  cereal  has  also,  like  some 
other  of  the  best  gifts  of  the  Deity,  been  perverted  to 
base  and  injurious  uses.  In  Ohio  and  some  other 
parts  of  the  West  it  is  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  high  wines  and  whiskey.  While  man  is  endowed 
with  a  twofold  nature  of  good  and  evil,  it  is  hardly 
perhaps  to  be  expected  that  all  the  beneficent  gifts  of 
Providence  will  be  exclusively  appropriated  to  their 
highest  and  most  valued  purposes.  But  though  the 
amount  of  corn  consumed  by  the  distiller  appears 
large  in  the  abstract,  it  is  yet  relatively  small,  and 
dwindles  to  comparative  insignificance  when  viewed 
in  connection  with  the  vast  quantities  absorbed  by 
other  and  better  uses. 

OIL. — The  vegetable  oil  contained  in  the  grain  of 
Indian  corn  is  capable  of  separation  by  chemical 
means,  and  when  thus  extracted  is  more  or  less  useful 
in  various  ways.  For  illuminating  purposes  it  has 
been  tried  in  some  of  the  light-houses  on  the  Western 
lakes,  and  found  available.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
whether  the  proportion  of  oil  yielded  by  corn  (sixteen 
gallons  to  one  hundred  bushels  of  grain),  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  expense  of  separating  it,  will  render 
it  sufficiently  economical  for  general  use. 

GREEN  MANURE. — For  soils  deficient  in  vegetable 
matter,  ploughing  in  green  crops  is  found  by  expe- 
rience to  be  very  useful.  It  supplies  the  precise 
material  most  wanting  in  such  cases,  and  in  quantities 
that  cannot  fail  to  prove  effective.  Buckwheat  and 


MISCELLANEOUS   USES   OF   COEN.  283 

clover  have  hitherto  been  more  generally  employed 
for  this  purpose  than  any  other  crop,  and  the  effect  is 
invariably  good.  But  green  corn  when  used  for  the 
same  object  can  be  made  to  yield  a  much  larger 
amount  of  vegetable  matter,  and  is  therefore  capable 
of  producing  a  larger  result.  Farmers  have  lately 
given  considerable  attention  to  this  subject,  and  some 
of  the  results  of  recent  experience  go  to  show  that 
great  and  almost  incredible  fertilizing  effects  may  be 
in  this  way  accomplished,  especially  in  those  cases 
where  the  condition  of  the  soil  requires  a  large  addi- 
tion of  vegetable  matter. 

FUEL. — In  some  parts  of  the  "West  where  corn  is 
abundant  and  easily  raised,  and  fuel  is  expensive 
and  difficult  to  procure,  farmers  have  sometimes 
found  it  both  convenient  and  economical  in  winter  to 
use  a  part  of  their  surplus  corn  in  feeding  their  fires. 
In  well- wooded  countries,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  coal- 
regions,  this  practice  will  probably  never  become 
necessary.  But  there  are  districts  of  country  in 
some  of  the  Western  States  where  the  distance  from 
coal  mines,  the  extent  of  the  prairie,  and  the  absence 
of  railroads  make  it  difficult  to  procure  either  fire- 
wood or  coal  at  any  reasonable  price.  It  is  fortunate 
for  the  farmer,  in  such  cases,  that  Indian  corn  can  be 
produced  at  such  a  rate  of  cost  and  in  such  abundance 
that,  after  appropriating  all  that  is  needed  for  the 
wants  of  his  family  and  the  requirements  of  his  stock, 
he  has  still  an  ample  supply  left  to  insure  a  warm 
and  cheerful  hearth  through  the  long  winter  even- 
ings. 


284:  INDIAN   CORN. 

There  are  those  who  consider  this  practice  objec- 
tionable and  wrong,  and  who  seem  to  be  shocked  at 
the  idea  of  burning  as  fuel  a  commodity  so  useful  and 
valuable  for  food.  But  a  little  reflection  will  show  how 
easy  it  is  for  the  mind  to  be  so  warped  by  early  im- 
pressions and  preconceived  notions  as  to  fail  in  making 
simple  and  obvious  distinctions.  If  this  grain  was 
designed  by  Providence  for  the  use  of  man,  it  must 
clearly  have  been  intended  that  he  should  so  use  it  as 
to  derive  from  it  the  greatest  amount  of  benefit ;  and 
the  particular  way  or  the  number  of  ways  in  which  he 
should  use  it,  is  entirely  a  question  of  circumstances. 
That  the  corn  which  keeps  a  man  from  freezing  may 
be  just  as  useful  to  him  as  that  which  keeps  him  from 
starving,  is  a  dictate  of  common  sense  too  plain  to  re- 
quire argument. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  the  cost  of  producing  corn  will  be  so  re- 
duced by  improved  culture  and  improved  varieties, 
that  the  use  of  it  as  fuel  will  be  much  more  general 
and  extensive  than  it  is  at  present ;  when  it  will  take 
the  place  of  fire-wood  and  coal,  not  merely  occasion- 
ally and  at  a  pinch,  but  in  many  places  constantly 
and  systematically.  Indeed,  it  would  hardly  be  ex- 
travagant to  anticipate  the  time  when  farmers  remote 
from  railroads  and  from  wooded  districts  will  make  it 
a  part  of  their  regular  plan  to  plant  not  only  a  field 
of  corn  for  the  granary,  but  another  for  the  wood- 
shed. 

MATTRESSES. — The  husks  of  corn  are  frequently 
turned  to  a  useful  account  by  farmers  and  others,  in 


MISCELLANEOUS   USES   OF   CORN.  285 

making  mattresses,  for  which  they  are  said  to  answer 
exceedingly  well,  and  are  highly  commended  by  some 
who  have  tried  them,  on  the  score  of  economy  and 
durability,  as  well  as  comfort. 


THE  PKODUCT  OF  ONE  ACEE. 

THE  quantity  of  food  that  an  acre  of  land  is  capa- 
ble of  producing  is  a  question  of  some  interest  to 
society,  and  one  that  rises  in  importance  as  population 
advances.  There  is  a  period  in  the  growth  of  every 
people  when  the  number  of  inhabitants  to  a  square 
mile  produces  a  demand  for  food  that  raises  the  ques- 
tion of  possible  supply. 

It  is  true,  the  alarm  at  one  time  created  by  the 
theory  of  Malthus  has  been  dissipated  by  later  and 
sounder  writers,  and  men  are  no  longer  terrified  by 
the  apprehension  that  increasing  population  will  out- 
run the  means  of  subsistence  until  the  earth  fails  to 
feed  its  inhabitants.  The  possibility  of  this  event,  if 
it  be  a  possibility,  is  too  remote  to  give  serious  con- 
cern to  the  present  generation. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that,  in  thickly-settled 
communities,  great  interests  are  at  stake  on  the  facili- 
ties for  procuring  food,  and  on  the  certainty  of  its 
supply ;  and  the  importance  of  preserving  and  increas- 
ing the  fertility  of  the  earth  becomes  in  every  country 
more  and  more  apparent  from  year  to  year  as  popula- 
tion accumulates. 


THE  PEODUCT  OF  ONE  ACEE.          287 

Even  our  own  favored  land  of  boundless  acres  and 
sparse  population  is  no  permanent  exception  to  this 
universal  rule.  Here,  as  in  older  countries,  it  is  found 
that  the  value  of  land  rises  with  the  augmented  num- 
bers present  to  consume  its  products,  and  the  rapid 
accumulation  of  mouths  to  be  fed  is  prophetic  of  a 
coming  demand  for  increased  productiveness  of  soil, 
and  more  perfect  modes  of  culture. 

It  is,  perhaps,  true  enough  to-day,  that  no  man  in 
Iowa  or  Nebraska  would  feel  himself  to  be  any  poorer, 
nor  would  pay  any  more  for  his  beef  and  bread,  if  the 
ultimate  capacity  of  each  acre  were  less  than  it  is. 
There  is  no  present  necessity  of  reaching  that  ultimate 
capacity,  and  consequently  no  concern  felt  in  regard 
to  it.  But  these  facts  are  transient.  The  natural  in- 
crease of  population,  augmented  as  it  is  by  constant  ac- 
cessions from  abroad,  will  in  the  course  of  time  entirely 
change  this  condition,  and  the  now  unpeopled  prairie 
will  swarm  with  hungry  consumers  of  bread  and  meat, 
that  will  make  it  expedient  for  every  farmer  to  hus- 
band the  affluence  of  his  soil,  and  test  the  capacity  of 
his  acres. 

From  these  and  like  considerations,  it  will  per- 
haps be  interesting  to  examine  some  of  the  capabili- 
ties of  an  acre  of  corn. 

For  this  purpose,  let  us  assume  the  product  of  an 
acre  to  be  one  hundred  bushels.  This,  as  before 
shown,  will  give  a  yield  of  stalks  equal  to  four  tons. 

It  was  found,  in  a  previous  estimate,  that  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  the  stover  are  equal  in  feeding  to 
forty-eight  pounds  of  corn ;  but  in  order  to  accommo- 


288 


INDIAN   COEN. 


date  this  estimate  to  the  views  of  those  who  may  pos- 
sibly rate  the  value  of  stalks  lower  than  this,  let  us 
take  one  hundred  pounds  of  them  as  equal  to  forty- 
five  pounds  of  the  grain ;  or,  in  other  words,  let  us 
suppose  that  one  hundred  pounds  of  the  stover  will 
produce  the  same  amount  of  butter,  beef,  mutton, 
etc.,  as  forty-five  pounds  of  corn. 

Comparing  this  with  the  estimate  made  on  a  for- 
mer page  for  the  cost  of  beef,  it  will  be  found  that, 
when  the  stalks  and  grain  are  fed  separately,  it  re- 
quires about  seventeen  and  a  half  pounds  of  the  for- 
mer, or  eight  pounds,  very  nearly,  of  the  latter,  to 
produce  a  pound  of  beef.  If  we  extend  the  calcula- 
tion to  other  products,  the  general  results  will  be  very 
nearly  as  indicated  in  the  following  table,  which  gives 
the  weight  of  grain,  and  also  the  weight  of  stalk, 
either  of  which,  separately,  will  produce  one  pound  of 
each  of  the  products  named : 


I1 

•8 
*  J 
I1 

li 

V 

For  1  Ib.  of 

milk. 

For  1  Ib.  of 

mutton. 

!» 

Corn.  

81bs. 

10  Ibs. 

51bs. 

ilb. 

41bs. 

Slbs. 

Stover 

17*  " 

22  " 

11  " 

n  « 

9  " 

Some  of  these  figures  vary  slightly  from  the  exact 
proportion,  but  they  are  near  enough  for  practical 
purposes. 

N~ow,  in  taking  the  yield  of  an  acre  of  corn  at  one 
hundred  bushels,  we  shall  have  five  thousand  six  hun- 


THE  PRODUCT   OP  ONE   ACKE. 


289 


dred  pounds  of  grain  and  eight  thousand  pounds  of 
stover ;  but  as  some  varieties  of  corn  and  some  modes 
of  planting  would  not  give  this  proportion  of  stalks, 
the  result  stated  below  is  calculated  for  two  different 
yields  of  the  latter,  viz.,  three  tons  per  acre  and  four 
tons. 

PRODUCT  OF  DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  FOOD  FROM  ONE  ACRE  OF 
CORN. 


YIELD  OF  COEN. 

Grain. 

Stover. 

Bee£ 

100  bush. 

8  tons. 

1,042  Ibs. 

832  Ibs. 

1,664  Ibs. 

16,640  Ibs. 

2,066  Ibs. 

1,866  Ibs. 

100    " 

4    « 

1,15T  u 

923  " 

1,846  * 

18,460  " 

2,288  i4 

1,866  " 

The  amount  of  pork  given  in  the  last  column  rep- 
resents the  product  of  grain  only.  If  the  stover  omit- 
ted in  that  case  were  converted  into  mutton,  it  would 
give  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  pounds  for  three  tons 
of  the  stalks,  or  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
pounds  for  four  tons.  The  total  product  of  the  acre, 
therefore,  in  the  last  column  would  be,  of  pork  and 
mutton  together,  two  thousand  five  hundred  and 
thirty-two  pounds  in  one  case,  and  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-four  pounds  in  the  other. 

It  is  important  for  the  farmer  to  remember,  that 
when  he  devotes  his  acres  to  either  of  the  above  prod- 
ucts he  gets,  in  addition  to  these  returns,  a  liberal 
supply  of  valuable  manure.  The  total  amount  of 
grain  and  stalk  in  the  above  crop  is  eleven  thousand 
six  hundred  pounds  in  one  case,  and  thirteen  thou- 
13 


290  INDIAN   COEN. 

sand  six  hundred  pounds  in  the  other.  In  the  con- 
sumption of  this  quantity  of  provender,  the  resulting 
manure  would  be  worth  from  forty  to  sixty  dollars, 
and  upward,  according  to  the  economy  and  intelli- 
gence exercised  in  the  care  and  use  of  it. 

It  is  also  to  be  considered  that,  in  the  case  of  mut- 
ton, the  value  of  the  fleece  is  to  be  added,  as  part  of 
the  product  of  the  acre ;  and  in  the  case  of  butter  and 
cheese,  the  value  of  the  pork  made  from  the  refuse  of 
the  dairy  is,  in  like  manner,  a  part  of  the  acreable 
product.  It  has  been  estimated  that,  with  good  man- 
agement, the  milk  of  a  cow  will  produce  a  pound  of 
pork  for  every  pound  of  butter. 

But  there  is  another  view  of  this  subject  that  fur- 
ther illustrates  the  capacity  of  an  acre  of  corn  for  con- 
tributing to  the  support  of  the  human  family.  "When 
the  corn  meal  is  converted  into  bread  and  other  forms 
of  food  for  the  table,  it  is  found  that  three  pounds  of 
the  meal  produce  over  seven  pounds  of  bread,  prob- 
ably seven  and  a  half  pounds  on  an  average.  Omit- 
ting the  fraction,  this  will  give  more  than  thirteen 
thousand  pounds  of  corn-bread  per  acre,  at  the  rate  of 
yield  assumed  above.  In  addition  to  this,  the  prod- 
uct of  the  stover,  supposing  it  to  be  three  tons  per 
acre,  would  be  equivalent  to  either  of  the  following, 
viz.,  to  three  hundred  and  forty-two  pounds  of  beef, 
two  hundred  and  seventy-two  pounds  of  butter,  five 
hundred  and  forty-four  pounds  of  cheese,  five  thousand 
four  hundred  and  forty  pounds  of  milk,  or  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six  pounds  of  mutton. 

This  would  support  a  family  of  seven  persons  for 


THE  PRODUCT  OF  ONE  ACRE.          291 

two  years,  supposing  each  man,  woman,  and  child  to 
consume  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  bread  and  one 
pound  of  milk  per  day ;  or  if,  instead  of  the  milk, 
either  of  the  other  products  were  consumed  in  the 
proportion  of  their  yield.  But  this  amount  of  food 
to  each  person  is  larger  than  experience  has  found 
requisite.  Taking  the  average  consumption  of  food 
in  families,  the  product  of  the  above  acre  would  ex- 
ceed the  result  here  given. 


CORN  CULTURE  AT  THE  WEST. 

AGEICULTUEE  on  the  "Western  prairies  is  quite  a 
different  affair,  and  presents  a  different  aspect,  from 
that  with  which  Eastern  farmers  are  familiar.  It  is 
conducted  on  a  scale  of  such  extent,  and  in  a  manner 
so  original  and  peculiar,  that  it  has  not  only  eclipsed 
all  previous  ideas  on  the  subject,  but  seems  to  have 
quite  bewildered  the  staid  farmers  of  the  older  States, 
some  of  whom  appear  to  be  needlessly  disturbed, 
and  imagine  all  their  established  theories  to  be  un- 
settled because  the  man  who  plants  his  corn  by  the 
square  mile  considers  it  necessary  to  strike  out  a 
theory  and  practice  of  his  own  ;  as  if  he  imagined  his 
gourd-seed  crop  of  five  hundred  acres  would  not  be 
the  "  big  thing  "  that  it  is,  if  raised  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples that  produce  the  yellow-flint  crop  of  five  acres, 
or  the  King  Philip  of  three. 

The  brave  and  resolute  yeoman  who,  disdaining 
his  scanty  paternal  inheritance  in  New  England,  has 
gone  forth  with  a  steadfast  purpose,  and  an  iron  will, 
to  commit  his  fortunes  to  the  rising  West,  is  naturally 
impatient  of  the  minute  details  and  commonplace 
results  of  Eastern  farming,  and  confidently  expects 


COKtf   GUI/TUBE  AT   THE   WEST.  293 

that,  in  his  new  quarters,  exuberance  of  soil  and 
multitude  of  acres  will  lift  him  above  the  drudgery  of 
old  methods,  make  him  independent  of  received  max- 
ims, and  yet  remunerate  a  minimum  of  labor  with  a 
maximum  yield. 

If  his  first  crop  disappoints  him,  he  is  nothing 
daunted,  but  plants  a  wider  breadth  the  following 
year,  still  sanguine  of  success,  defiant  of  chemistry, 
and  superior  to  the  laws  of  vegetation.  He  is  bound 
to  realize  his  early  dreams  of  mammoth  granaries 
densely  filled ;  and  so  long  as  that  end  is  gained,  he 
cares  not  to  inquire  whether  it  results  from  quantity 
of  land,  or  perfection  of  culture.  If  when  his  crop  is 
harvested  he  can  count  the  product  by  thousands 
of  bushels,  his  object  is  equally  accomplished,  whether 
it  is  the  yield  of  several  hundred  acres  imperfectly 
cultivated,  or  of  fifty  acres  thoroughly  tilled. 

But  after  all,  this  passion  for  doing  things  on  a 
large  scale,  at  a  rapid  rate  and  therefore  superficially, 
is  but  the  outcropping  of  a  national  infirmity,  and 
will  in  due  season  bring  its  own  remedy.  Let  us, 
then,  give  all  due  credit  to  the  intrepid  pioneer  of  the 
prairie,  who,  though  some  of  his  ideas  may  be  more 
colossal  than  correct,  is  yet  doing  a  grand  work  for 
humanity,  in  extending  the  domain  of  civilization 
over  an  unsubdued  wilderness,  and  transforming  the 
wild  pastures  of  the  buffalo  into  fields  of  golden 
grain. 

The  prevalent  notion  that  the  agriculture  of  the 
"Western  States  is  essentially,  and  of  necessity,  a  dif- 
ferent thing  from  that  of  the  East,  calling  for  a  differ- 


294:  INDIAN   CORN. 

ent  set  of  principles  and  system  of  practice,  though 
it  may  have  some  slight  or  apparent  foundation  in  the 
difference  of  conditions,  is  nevertheless  pregnant  with 
mischievous  error. 

Whatever  the  distinction  is,  or  ought  to  be,  be- 
tween the  modes  of  culture  practised  in  the  two  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  it  is  supposed  to  be  founded  on 
the  fact  that  in  one  of  these  localities  land  is  cheap 
and  labor  is  dear,  while  in  the  other  the  case  is  re- 
versed; and  also  perhaps  on  the  further  fact,  that 
where  the  land  is  lowest  in  price,  and  most  abundant, 
it  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  productive.  This  at 
least  appears  to  be  the  general  argument  for  the  West- 
ern system. 

It  does  not,  however,  very  clearly  appear  how  the 
low  price  and  fertile  quality  of  Western  land,  or  even 
the  high  price  of  Western  labor,  can  justify  the 
repudiation  of  some  of  the  soundest  maxims  of  hus- 
bandry. It  is  not  entirely  evident  that  a  given 
amount  of  corn  is  more  profitably  raised  from  a  ]arge 
area  of  land  than  from  one  of  half  the  extent,  even 
admitting  the  land  to  cost  less  and  the  labor  more 
than  they  do  at  the  East.  That  this  may  be  the  case 
to  a  limited  extent,  and  in  exceptional  instances,  is 
very  possible.  But  that  it  is  true  in  general  and  in 
the  long  run,  it  would  be  hard  to  show.  Nor  is  it 
easy  to  perceive  the  economy  of  turning  cattle  into 
the  cornfield  during  fall  and  winter  to  browse  on  the 
hard  and  juiceless  remnants  of  a  once  nutritious  stover 
from  which  alternate  frost  and  sun  have  expelled  all 
the  nutriment.  Equally  difficult  also  would  it  be  to 


COEN   CULTTJKE   AT   THE   WEST.  295 

justify,  upon  any  sound  principle,  the  improvident 
practice  of  allowing  the  cattle  and  other  stock  of  the 
farm  to  enter  the  cornfield,  at  the  maturity  of  the 
grain,  to  do  their  own  harvesting. 

It  is  urged,  in  defence  of  this  practice,  that  the 
difficulty  of  procuring  help  sometimes  renders  it  un- 
avoidable ;  but  if  the  farmer,  instead  of  planting  a 
half  section  or  more  of  land,  had  planted  one-half  or 
one-fourth  of  that  extent,  adopting  at  the  same  time 
the  best  modes  of  culture,  he  would  realize  in  the  end 
a  larger  crop,  and  the  labor  and  expense  of  harvesting 
would  be  greatly  reduced.  Instead  of  rambling  over 
miles  of  territory  to  gather  up  a  scattered  and  lean 
crop,  he  would  have  a  compact,  abundant,  and  profit- 
able yield  within  a  small  compass — a  crop  that  would 
be  easily  harvested,  and  that  would  pay  well  for 
gathering,  even  at  some  extra  expense  for  the 
labor. 

The  whole  of  the  argument  in  support  of  the  prev- 
alent system  of  Western  culture  seems  to  be  an  inver- 
sion of  the  usual  mode  of  reasoning.  The  superior 
quality  of  the  soil,  so  far  from  being  an  excuse  for 
careless  cultivation,  is  the  best  reason  in  the  world 
why  it  should  be  treated  in  the  most  thorough  man- 
ner. It  is  only  the  thorough  treatment  of  the  land 
that  reveals  the  fulness  of  its  wealth.  The  high  price 
of  labor,  instead  of  being  a  reason  for  diffusing  it  over 
a  large  surface,  is  an  argument  for  concentration — for 
bringing  it  within  the  smallest  compass,  where  every 
blow  tells,  and  every  stroke  is  sure  of  its  legitimate 
effect. 


296  INDIAN   CORN. 

The  man  who  should  employ  a  carpenter  at  three 
dollars  a  day  to  drive  nails,  and  put  him  in  a  position 
where  he  could  only  hit  every  tenth  nail  on  the  head, 
would  be  very  likely  to  complain  of  the  expense  of 
labor,  but  he  would  hardly  assign  that  as  an  excuse 
for  his  folly ;  on  the  contrary,  he  would  find  in  the 
price  of  labor  the  strongest  argument  for  reforming 
his  practice.  Let  him  place  his  man  in  a  situation 
where  every  blow  drives  a  nail  home,  and  he  will  not 
consider  the  work  dearly  paid  for,  whether  it  costs  one 
dollar  a  day  or  three. 

It  is  proper,  however,  to  remark,  and  it  is  gratify- 
ing to  know,  that  this  uncalculating  and  unprofitable 
mode  of  husbandry  is  by  no  means  universal,  in  any 
section  of  the  country,  and  that  there  are  throughout 
the  West  many  enlightened  farmers  to  whom  these 
strictures  have  no  application.  There  is,  indeed, 
through  all  that  country,  a  marked  and  increasing 
tendency  toward  a  better  system  of  culture.  The 
progress  of  recent  years  proves  that  the  evil  com- 
plained of  is  steadily  diminishing  and  disappearing 
under  the  influence  of  diffused  intelligence,  of  the  in- 
creasing number  of  farmers'  clubs,  and  of  other  multi- 
plied facilities  and  valuable  sources  of  useful  knowl- 


In  proportion  as  men  advance  in  reading  and 
thinking,  they  gradually  acquire  the  habit  of  getting 
a  larger  amount  of  products  from  a  less  amount  of 
land;  and  our  Western  farmers  are  already  begin- 
ning to  discover  that  a  more  careful,  calculating,  and 
concentrated  culture  will  produce  more  corn  from  an 


COEN   CTJLTUKE   AT   THE  WEST.  297 

acre,  at  a  less  cost  per  lushel,  and  that  a  more  provi- 
dent mode  of  harvesting  and  feeding  will  give  a  larger 
amount  of  beef  and  pork  from  an  acre,  at  a  less  cost 
per  pound. 


13* 


THE  MAOTFACTUKnsTG  ESTTEKEST  EST  ITS 
BELATION  TO  AGKICULTUKE. 

NOTHING  would  contribute  more,  and  perhaps  noth- 
ing so  much,  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  "West 
and  South  as  the  extension  and  increase  of  the  manu- 
facturing interest.  The  man  who  converts  raw  mate- 
rials into  articles  of  utility,  convenience,  or  luxury,  is 
a  creator  of  values,  and  is  to  that  extent  a  useful  and 
valuable  citizen  in  every  community.  Like  the  farmer, 
he  creates  products  that  meet  the  wants  and  necessi- 
ties of  men,  and  his  presence  is  not  merely  important 
to  society,  but  indispensable  to  its  progress.  The 
manufacturer  undoubtedly  ranks  next  in  importance 
to  the  farmer,  and  their  avocations  are  in  many  points 
strikingly  analogous.  It  may  indeed  be  said  that  the 
farmer,  in  a  broad  and  important  sense,  is  himself  a 
manufacturer,  for,  like  the  latter,  he  is  essentially  a 
creator  of  values. 

There  is,  therefore,  between  these  two  departments 
of  industry  a  close  and  intimate  connection, — a  rela- 
tionship of  mutual  dependence  and  reciprocal  benefits. 
There  is  probably  no  country  on  the  globe  and  no 
condition  of  society  in  which  the  presence  of  the  man- 


THE  MANUFACTURING   INTEREST,    ETC.  299 

ufacturer  is  more  needed  at  this  moment  than  in  some 
of  our  Western  and  Southern  States. 

The  farmer  is  already  there,  and  is  doing  his  werk 
bravely.  He  is  continually  accumulating  agricultural 
products,  which,  if  he  had  a  near-by  market,  would 
be  synonymous  with  agricultural  wealth.  When  the 
manufacturer  goes  into  such  a  community,  he  supplies 
a  vacancy  that  is  anxiously  awaiting  him,  and  which 
no  one  but  himself  can  fill.  He  finds  already  there 
in  ample  abundance  that  which  he  most  needs,  name- 
ly, cheap  food  and  a  market  for  his  products,  and  fur- 
nishes in  return  the  very  commodities  most  essential 
to  the  wants  and  necessities  of  those  around  him. 
Thus  the  proximity  of  the  two  classes  results  in  the 
highest  possible  advantage  to  each,  and  the  inter- 
change of  commodities  becomes  a  mutual  benefit  and 
reciprocal  wealth. 

The  more  widely  you  separate  the  farmer  and 
manufacturer,  the  more  you  impoverish  them  both. 
The  closer  the  contact  in  which  you  place  them,  the 
more  you  increase  and  render  certain  the  success  and 
affluence  of  each.  Wherever  a  manufacturing  edifice 
is  reared  in  the  West,  the  result  is  a  wider  home  mar- 
ket for  beef  and  pork,  and  a  rise  in  the  price  of  corn. 
The  advent  of  factory  operatives  into  a  new  agricul- 
tural region  assures  coming  prosperity  to  the  farmer, 
and  the  discordant  clatter  of  machinery  that  shocks  the 
ears  of  other  men  is  to  him  the  sweetest  of  music ;  for 
it  starts  the  long  dormant  corn  from  the  crib,  gives 
new  activity  and  interest  to  butter  and  beef,  and  in- 
fallibly prognosticates  a  new  top  to  the  Sunday  car- 


300  INDIAN   CORN. 

riage,  a  silk  gown  for  the  wife,  a  suit  of  clothes  for 
the  little  boy,  and  a  new  dress  for  the  baby. 

Without  assuming  to  determine  the  true  limit  of 
government  policy  in  fostering  the  various  industrial 
pursuits,  it  is  certainly  much  to  be  desired — nay,  in- 
finitely important  to  the  highest  good  of  this  nation — 
that  the  manufacturing  interest  should  keep  pace 
more  nearly  with  the  onward  march  of  agriculture. 
When  these  go  forward  with  a  uniform  and  parallel 
progress,  mutually  aiding  and  enriching  each  other, 
and  scattering  their  useful  and  valuable  products 
broadcast  through  the  land,  the  highest  condition  of 
material  prosperity  for  the  whole  country  is  then  ful- 
filled. 

On  a  comparative  view  of  these  great  interests,  it 
is  perfectly  clear  that  every  public  measure  adopted 
in  favor  of  the  manufacturer  promotes  indirectly,  and 
probably  in  the  long  run  to  an  equal  extent,  the  pros- 
perity not  only  of  the  farmer  but  of  every  other  class 
in  the  community  ;  and  any  line  of  policy  calculated 
to  bring  these  two  producing  classes  into  closer  prox- 
imity, is  a  benefit  to  consumers  of  every  class.  It  not 
only  tends  to  increase  the  supply  of  their  products, 
but  the  result  is  a  general  and  pervading  diffusion  of 
these  needful  and  useful  commodities,  with  much  less 
of  the  expensive  intervention  of  railroads  and  steam- 
ers. Thus  to  the  consumer  the  cost  of  such  products 
is  diminished  by  all  the  difference  of  the  expense  of 
transportation,  while  he  also  derives  a  further  advan- 
tage in  the  facility  of  procuring  them  with  prompt- 
ness and  certainty. 


MAKKET  PEICE. 

THE  market  price  of  Indian  corn  per  bushel  is  to 
many  farmers,  and  might  well  be  to  all,  a  matter  of 
comparative  indifference.  Every  judicious  cultivator 
understands  that,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is  against  his 
interest,  and  in  most  cases  a  blind  and  mistaken  poli- 
cy, to  send  his  corn  to  a  market  town  to  be  converted 
into  money  at  the  current  quotations.  There  are,  of 
course,  exceptions  to  this,  as  to  all  general  rules. 
There  are  times  when  the  market  price  rises  to  a  level 
that  justifies  the  husbandman  in  turning  some  portion 
of  his  crop  into  ready  cash.  There  are  also  emergen- 
cies that  occasionally  arise  in  the  experience  of  farm- 
ers when  it  becomes  expedient  or  necessary  to  realize 
prompt  returns  for  their  corn  crop  or  a  part  of  it,  even 
though  it  be  at  a  sacrifice. 

Such  cases,  however,  are  but  necessary  evils,  and 
under  good  management  will  very  rarely  occur.  The 
true  and  obvious  policy  of  the  prudent  farmer  is  to 
feed  out  his  corn  on  his  own  premises,  thus  saving  the 
expense  of  transportation,  and  returning  to  his  soil 


302  INDIAN   CORN. 

the  elements  of  fertility  extracted  by  the  crop.  The 
most  profitable  market  for  corn,  and  in  nearly  all 
cases  the  only  profitable  one,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
cattle-stall,  the  pig-stye,  the  cow-yard,  and  the  poul- 
try-house ;  not  omitting,  of  course,  the  family  table, 
which,  though  more  limited,  is,  as  far  as  its  require- 
ments extend,  the  best  of  all  markets. 

As  every  farmer,  however,  is  liable  occasionally  to 
find  his  interest  in  resorting  to  a  cash  market,  not 
merely  for  the  sale  of  his  corn,  but  sometimes  and 
perhaps  more  profitably  as  a  purchaser,  it  is  a  matter 
of  some  interest  to  keep  himself  tolerably  posted  in 
regard  to  the  current  quotations,  and  more  especially 
is  this  true  in  reference  to  some  of  the  other  products 
of  the  farm.  In  the  range  of  prices  for  all  such  pro- 
visions as  corn  is  used  in  producing,  he  necessarily 
feels  a  lively  interest,  for  in  these  he  discerns  the  real 
profit  on  his  corn  crop. 

The  average  price  of  corn  in  the  New  York  mar- 
ket for  the  last  three  years  is  about  one  dollar  and 
twenty  cents  per  bushel.  This  price  having  resulted 
from  the  rebellion,  is  of  course  exceptional,  and  can- 
not be  permanent.  For  the  first  two  months  of  the 
present  year  (1866)  yellow  corn  has  ranged  from 
eighty  to  ninety-five  cents.  For  a  long  series  of  years 
previous  to  the  war  the  average  was  not  over  sixty- 
five  cents,  and  for  the  last  forty  years,  including  the 
period  of  the  rebellion,  the  average  price  is  about 
sixty-seven  cents  per  bushel. 

The  average  price  of  corn  for  1865,  as  compared 
with  several  other  products,  is  as  follows : 


MARKET  PEICE.  303 


Corn  Beef  Pork  Butter  Cheese 

per  bushel.       perlb.          perlb.  perlb.  perlb. 

$1.16        11  cts.     12  cts.        40  cts.          16  cts. 


The  following  table,  from  the  New  York  Tribune, 
gives  the  average  price  of  beef  cattle  per  pound  each 
year  for  the  last  twelve  years : 


1854, per  Ib.  9  c.  full. 

1855, lOc. 

1856, 9£c.  nearly. 

1857, 10$c.  nearly. 

1858, 8-Jc.  nearly. 

1859, 9c. 


1860, per  Ib.  8e.  full. 

1861, 7|c. 

1862, 7|c. 

1863,. 9ic. 

1864, 14£c. 

1865, 16o. 


The  Tribune  estimates  the  average  weight  of  cattle 
marketed  at  seven  hundred  pounds  per  head ;  and, 
adding  the  milch  cows  to  the  beeves,  as  they  nearly 
all  eventually  go  to  the  shambles,  the  total  number 
is  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  thousand,  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  head  of  cattle,  representing  an 
aggregate  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  million, 
six  hundred  and  four  thousand,  five  hundred  pounds 
of  meat,  and  thirty-one  million,  two  hundred  and 
ninety-six  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  twenty  dol- 
lars in  money  value.  According  to  its  estimate  as  to 
sheep  (average  eighty  pounds  each,  at  eight  cents  per 
pound),  the  total  of  mutton  is  sixty-six  million,  nine 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand,  six  hundred  and 
forty  pounds,  costing  five  million,  three  hundred  and 
fifty-five  thousand,  and  ninety-one  dollars. 

For  the  first  two  months  of  the  present  year  the 


304  INDIAN   CORN. 

price  of  corn  compares  with  other  leading  products  as 
follows : 


JANUARY 

Corn 
per  bushel. 

90  cts 

Beef 
per  Ib. 

10  cts. 

Pork 
per  Ib. 

11  cts. 

Butter 
per  Ib. 

34  cts. 

Cheese 
per  Ib. 

15  cts. 

FEBRUARY,  .  . 

.  .  85  cts. 

9*  cts. 

11  cts. 

35  cts. 

18  cts. 

CONCLUSION. 

THROUGHOUT  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  it  has 
been  a  leading  object  with  the  author  to  illustrate  the 
value  of  first  principles,  and  to  convince  the  farmer 
that  in  order  to  insure  the  highest  success  in  cultivat- 
ing his  corn,  as  well  as  in  using  it  with  advantage, 
thoroughness  of  treatment  is  not  merely  important 
and  useful,  but  that  it  is  in  fact  the  one  indispensable 
condition,  in  which  all  others  are  included.  This, 
though  true  enough  in  other  branches  of  husbandry, 
is  more  emphatically  so  in  the  case  of  corn,  on  account 
of  its  remarkable  capacity  of  development.  Its  sensi- 
tive nature  feels  and  responds  to  every  degree  of  treat- 
ment, rapidly  unfolding  and  expanding  under  the 
genial  influence  of  care  and  effort,  springing  forward 
at  every  touch  of  thoughtful  culture,  and,  when  the 
hand  of  skilful  labor  has  apparently  exhausted  its 
capability  of  production,  still  showing  that  it  has  a 
further  capacity  of  yield — only  requiring  additional 
labor  and  thought,  and  awaiting  the  approach  of  a 
new  and  higher  method  of  culture. 

It  has  also  been'  the  constant  endeavor  of  the  wri- 


306  INDIAN   CORN. 

ter  to  render  the  discussion  of  this  subject  as  practical 
as  possible,  well  aware  that,  without  this  quality,  it 
could  have  but  little  interest  or  value  for  the  farmer. 
Yet  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  in  many  in- 
stances sound  practical  conclusions  are  more  readily 
arrived  at  by  the  aid  of  theory  than  in  any  other  way. 
Indeed,  all  reasoning  from  the  facts  of  experience  to 
general  conclusions  is  of  necessity  more  or  less  theoreti- 
cal ;  and  however  strong  the  tendency  among  cultiva- 
tors to  separate  facts  from  theory,  repudiating  the 
latter  as  of  little  or  no  value,  still  it  is  only  by  pre- 
serving a  proper  connection  between  them  that  the 
greatest  usefulness  of  each  is  found,  and  the  most  im- 
portant results  obtained. 

It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  the  prejudice 
prevailing  among  farmers  against  theoretical  investiga- 
tion is  very  easily  accounted  for  and  perhaps  in  some 
measure  justified  by  the  extravagant  theories  too 
often  propounded  by  speculative  writers — theories 
with  scarcely  a  fact  to  rest  upon,  and  certainly  not 
entitled  to  the  confidence  of  sensible  men.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  difficult  to  understand  the  jealousy  and  dis- 
trust with  which  this  class  of  speculations  are  apt  to 
be  viewed  by  agriculturists. 

Yet  it  does  not  follow,  because  some  writers  in- 
dulge in  vague  and  shadowy  abstractions,  dignifying 
them  with  the  name  of  theory,  that  all  theoretical  in- 
quiry is  necessarily  unsound  and  useless.  There  is 
probably  no  principle  nor  method  of  investigation 
that  is  not  liable  to  misapplication  or  abuse ;  but  this 
consideration,  while  it  furnishes  good  ground  for  cau- 


CONCLUSION.  307 

tion  in  accepting  results,  is  not  a  sufficient  reason 
why  such  method  of  inquiry  should  "be  entirely 
ignored.  Though  it  justifies  careful  discrimination 
between  true  and  false  reasoning,  it  does  not  warrant 
the  rejection  of  sound  conclusions  merely  because 
they  are  theoretically  deduced.  It  often  happens, 
that  the  theorist,  by  pushing  his  investigations  in  ad- 
vance, prepares  the  way  for  the  practical  man,  ren- 
dering his  success  easy  and  certain.  "When  practice, 
therefore,  repudiates  all  theory  alike,  without  discrimi- 
nating between  the  true  and  the  false,  it  deprives 
itself  of  much  valuable  aid,  and  rejects  a  portion  of 
the  light  that  illuminates  the  path  to  success. 

In  nearly  all  the  highest  achievements  of  human 
ability,  thought  precedes  action,  and  theory  is  the 
precursor  of  valuable  practical  results.  It  was 
theoretical  investigation  that,  a  few  years  since, 
announced  to  the  world  a  new  planet  in  the  solar 
system,  in  advance  of  its  actual  discovery ;  and  the 
practical  astronomer  might  have  long  swept  his  glass 
over  the  heavens  in  a  fruitless  search  for  the  unknown 
wanderer,  had  not  the  speculative  mind  of  Leverrier 
given  to  the  instrument  its  true  direction. 

It  is  clearly,  then,  the  interest  of  the  farmer  to 
banish  from  his  mind  the  narrow  prejudice  that  dis- 
cerns no  truth  outside  of  its  own  traditions,  and  re- 
pudiates all  knowledge  derived  from  books.  It  is 
clearly  the  dictate  of  practical  wisdom  to  remember 
that  the  soundness  of  every  theoretical  investigation 
depends  on  its  relation  to  facts,  and  that  these  rise  in 
value  and  importance  in  proportion  as  they  are  illumi- 


308  ESDIAN   COEN. 

nated  by  theory  ;  that  the  most  perfect  husbandry  is 
that  in  which  fact  and  theory  are  harmoniously 
blended,  and  that  the  strong  right  arm  on  which  the 
fanner  confidently  relies  works  out  its  best  results 
when  it  executes  the  intelligent  plans  of  a  thoughtful 
and  reasoning  mind. 


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"  The  plot  is  well  developed ;  the  characters  are  finely  sketched ;  it  is  a  capi- 
tal novel." — Providence  Journal. 

"  It  is  the  best  novel  we  have  seen  for  many  months."— Montreal  Gasette. 

"  It  is  marked  by  all  the  fascinating  qualities  of  the  works  that  preceded  it. 
*  *  *  Equal  to  any  of  her  former  novels." — Commercial. 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


Chateau  Frissac ;  or  Home  Scenes 

in  France.     By  OLIVE  LOGAN,  Authoress  of  "Photographs  of 
Paris  Life," -etc.,  etc.     Large  12mo.     Cloth. 

"  The  vivacity  and  ease  of  her  style  are  rarely  attained  in  works  of  this  kind, 
and  its  scenes  and  incidents  are  skilfully  wrought." — Chicago  Journal. 
"  The  story  is  lively  and  entertaining."— Springfield  Republican. 


The  Management  of    Steel,  in- 

eluding  Forging,  Hardening,  Tempering,  Annealing,  Shrinking, 
and  Expansion,  also  the  Case-Hard  ening  of  Iron.  By  GEORGE 
EDE,  employed  at  the  Royal  Gun  Factories'  Department,  Wool- 
wich Arsenal.  First  American  from  Second  London  Edition. 
12mo.  Cloth. 

"  This  work  must  be  valuable  to  machinists  and  workers  of  Iron  and  Steel." 
— Portland  Courier. 

"  An  instructive  essay ;  it  imparts  a  great  deal  of  valuable  information  con- 
nected with  the  making  of  metel."— Hartford  Courant. 


The  Clever  Woman  of  the  Fam- 

ily.  By  the  Author  of  "  The  Heir  of  Redclyffe,"  "  Heartsease,'' 
"  The  Young  Stepmother,"  etc.,  etc.  With  twelve  illustra- 
tions. 8vo. 

"  A  charming  story ;  fresh,  vigorous,  and  lifelike  as  the  works  of  this  author 
always  are.  V/e  are  inclined  to  think  that  most  readers  will  agree  with  us  m 
pronouncing  it  the  best  which  the  author  has  yet  produced. '  —Portland 
Press. 

"  A  new  story  by  this  popular  writer  is  always  welcome.  The  |  Clever •Wo- 
man of  the  Family,'  is  one  of  her  best;  bright,  sharp,  and  piquant.  "-Hartford 
Courant. 

"  One  of  the  cleverest,  most  genial  novels  of  the  times.  It  is  JrMen  with 
great  force  and  fervor.  The  characters  are  sketched  with  great  skill.'  -Troy 
Times. 


Too  Strange  Not  to   Ibe  True. 

A  Tale.  By  Lady  GEORGIANA  FULLERTON,  Authoress  of  "  Ellen 
Middleton,"  "  Ladybird,"  etc.  Three  volumes  in  one.  With 
Illustrations.  Svo. 

"This  work,  which  is  by  far  the  best  of  the  fair  and  gifted  Author  ess,  is  the 
most  interesting  book  of  fiction  that  has  appeared  for  years.  "—Ca^ro  JVews. 

"It  is  a  strange,  exciting,  and  extremely  interesting  tale,  well  and    beauti- 
fully written.    It  is  likely  to  become  one  of  the  most  popular  novels    of  tJ 
present  day." — Indianapolis  Gazette. 

"  A  story  in  which  truth  and  fiction  are  skilfully  blended.    It  has  quite    an 
air  of  truth,  and  lovers  of  the  marvellous  will  find  in  it  much  that  is  interesting. 
— Boston  Recorder. 


4  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

What  I  Saw  on  the  West  Coast 

of  South  and  North  America,  and  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  By 
H*.  WILLIS  BAXLEY,  M.D.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  8vo. 
632  pp.  Cloth. 

"  With  great  power  of  observation,  much  information,  a  rapid  and  graphic 
style,  the  author  presents  a  vivid  and  instructive  picture.  He  is  free  in  his 
strictures,  sweeping  in  his  judgments,  but  bis  facts  are  unquestionable,  andhia 
motives  and  his  standard  of  judgment  just."—  Albany  Argus. 


"  His  work  will  be  found  to  contain  a  greal  deal  of  valuable  information, 
ny  suggestive  refl 
Portland  Express. 


many  suggestive  reflections,  and  much  grapkic  and  interesting  descriptions."  — 
nd  E 


The  Conversion  of  the  Roman 

Empire.  The  Boyle  Lectures  for  the  year  1864.  Delivered  at 
the  Chapel  Royal,  Whitehall,  by  CHARLES  MERIVALE,  B.D., 
Rector  of  Lawford,  Chaplain  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  author  of  "  A  History  of  the  Romans  under  the  Em- 
pire." 8vo.  267  pp. 

"  No  man  living  is  better  qualified  to  discuss  the  subject  of  this  volume,  and 
he  has  done  it  with  marked  ability.  He  has  done  it,  moreover,  in  the  interest  of 
Christian  truth,  and  manifests  thorough  appreciation  of  the  spiritual  nature  and 
elements  of  Christianity." — Evangelist. 

"The  author  is  admirably  qualified  from  his  historical  studies  to  connect  the- 
ology with  facts.  The  subject  is  a  great  one,  and  it  is  treated  with  candor,  vigor, 
and  abundant  command  of  materials  to  bring  out  its  salient  points." — ^Boston 
Transcript. 

Christian  Ballads.     By  the  Right 

Rev.  A.  CLEVELAND  COXE,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Western  New  York. 
Illustrated  by  John  A.  Hows.  1  vol.,  8vo.  14  full  page  en- 
gravings, and  nearly  60  head  and  tail  pieces. 


"  These  ballads  have  gained  for  the  author  an  enviable  distinction ;  this  work 
stands  almost  without  a  rival." — Christian  Times. 

"  Not  alone  do  they  breathe  a  beautiful  religious  and  Christianlike  spirit, 
there  is  much  real  and  true  poetry  in  them."— Home  Journal. 

Mount  Yernon,  and  other  Poems. 

By  HARVEY  RICE.     12mo. 

"  Fresh  and  original  in  style  and  in  thought.  *  *  *  Will  be  read  with  much 
satisfaction." — Cleveland  Leader. 


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